On Mother’s Day, Dance Moms coach and cancer survivor Abby Lee Miller shared an emotional tribute to her mother, Maryen Lorrain Miller, who passed away from colon cancer showing family support means everything for those battling the disease.
Abby Lee Miller Honoring Her Late Mother
On Instagram, Miller, 53, shared a photo of her late mother’s tombstone in honor of Mother’s Day. Maryen Lorrain Miller passed away in 2014 after battling colon cancer. In 2018, Abby Lee Miller was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma and underwent an emergency surgery on her spine as well as six rounds of chemotherapy treatment. Since the surgery, Miller has been confined to a wheelchair.
Read MoreThe Importance Of Family Support During Cancer Treatment
Once receiving a cancer diagnosis, a supportive family can help keep patients positive and fighting during treatment. In numerous conversations with SurvivorNet, cancer survivors share how their families helped them cope with their diagnoses and encouraged them throughout their journey.
Dr. Heather Yeo says colon cancer diagnoses in women are more common than we might think
Ramy Gafni is a non-Hodgkins Lymphoma survivor who was diagnosed at age 31. Gafni told SurvivorNet that his mother is a three-time cancer survivor herself, and she served as the perfect role model during his treatment.
“She was my role model,” Gafni says. “I was like, well, she got rid of it, got on with her life. [So] I’m going to do the same.”
Related: Sadness Is Not Always A Bad Thing Coping After Losing A Parent To Cancer
Similar to Gafin, ovarian cancer survivor Ellen Kleinbaum talked to SurvivorNet about her cancer battle once she was diagnosed at age 41. As a single mother raising three teenagers, Kleinbaum finding out about her caused her severe stress and fear.
Ovarian cancer survivor Ellen Kleinbaum says her children helped her cope with the cancer diagnosis
Related: 'I Never Had a Chance to Feel Down': Linda Richmond's Survivor Story
“I had three kids, and they were young,” Kleinbaum says. “I was a single parent of these three children, and my life just fell apart pretty much…my life is my children, and I have five grandchildren. I feel I’m one of the most fortunate people on the face of the earth to have survived what I’ve survived and enjoy the life I have.”
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