Published Aug 21, 2020

‘Dance Mom’ Abby Lee Miller is a Cancer Warrior as She Freewheels Through Summer: ‘Even For Me, Life Has Its Gleams of Sunshine’

Her recent outings — and outlook — show that physical therapy is healing both body and soul, as Miller continues her recovery from a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Constance Costas

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Abby Lee Miller Is Triumphing Over Burkitt Lymphoma

Miller is working hard to regain her ability to walk after an aggressive cancerous tumor required multiple spinal surgeries
She resumed physical therapy when quarantine restrictions eased
After a difficult spring, her new, positive outlook is speeding her progress

Abby Lee Miller, 54, once the star of “Dance Moms” has been spotted out and about in her motorized wheelchair, making the best of both quarantine and the physical aftermath of Burkitt Lymphoma, a cancer that originates in the white blood cells.

Because it’s both rare and aggressive, Miller’s cancer has been challenging from the time of her April 2018 diagnosis. A cancerous tumor on her spine required three surgeries and more than ten rounds of chemotherapy.

The treatment was physically devastating: “I struggled thru months of physical therapy to learn to sit up again, to crawl and maybe with a miracle someday I’ll walk,” she shared in a 2019 Instagram post.

Reveling in her recent outings in Santa Monica, Miller captured her renewed strength and upbeat mood with a quote from Charlotte Bronte: “Even for me, life has its gleams of sunshine.”

For Miller: Life Is Looking Up

Her fresh outlook represents an about-face from April, when she faced isolation in an “awful” hotel-bound quarantine: “They’re telling me I have to move out tomorrow,” she told Hollywood Life in a video interview.

Miller’s recent outings reflect her renewed energy and commitment to physical therapy.

I’m handicapped, so it’s a nightmare. I found an apartment, finally, but it’s brand-new; it’s not inspected … so I can’t move in.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Miller said. “it’s absolutely awful.”

A Cancerous Tumor: Spinal Surgery

Miller ran a Pittsburgh area dance studio before being cast on Lifetime’s “Dance Moms” in 2012. Later convicted of bank fraud, Miller served just over a year in prison.

After her release, her cancer struggle began when she underwent back surgery. “It was physically tough and emotionally draining,” she said of her recovery.

Dr. Angela Wicker-Ramos explains how a personalized physical therapist can help patients recover after cancer treatment

“Going through the surgery, recovering, going to therapy … trying to get my right foot to move again, to get my toes to wiggle, that was hard.”

Now that her physical therapy sessions have resumed and she’s getting out a bit, Miller has been radiating positive energy in recent months. In June, she shared a video showing her progress and reported proudly that she’d walked “200 steps today!”

About Burkitt Lymphoma

Burkitt lymphoma is named after the doctor who first described it in African children, according to the American Cancer Society. A highly aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma that can spread to the central nervous system, Burkitt Lymphoma is one of the fastest-growing cancers known, so it needs to be diagnosed and treated quickly.

Because the disease is often indistinguishable from diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, another aggressive form of lymphoma, an accurate diagnosis is critical, according to the Lymphoma Research Foundation.

View this post on Instagram

One year ago today ~ I underwent emergency surgery for an infection in my spine. This mass/tumor choking my spinal cord turned out to be Burkitt Lymphoma. I endured ten rounds of chemo therapy (each lasting 6 days with 4/ 24hr bags pumping poison into my body ending with a spinal tap in 3 spots, plus another shot of Chemo into my tailbone area up the spinal cord around my brain cavity) Ten times! Another spine surgery was needed & I have one more still to go. I struggled thru months of physical therapy to learn to sit up again, to crawl and maybe with a miracle someday I’ll walk. Why didn’t the ER Doctors on duty do their jobs? I came in twice with the same symptoms? Why didn’t somebody listen to me, the patient? I finally found the right team that’s why I lived to tell my story, I have a lot to say! Thank you to all wonderful top notch professionals who continue to help me heal. For those who missed it, misdiagnosed me, and the so called Federal “Doctor” who took me off medication cold turkey and the other ER “Doctor Hollywood” who told me to go home and take it easy for 10 days – STOP practicing! Please ????????
A post shared by Abby Lee Miller (@therealabbylee) on Apr 17, 2019 at 10:53am PDT

About Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Burkitt Lymphoma is a form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which starts in the white blood cells (lymphocytes), which are part of the body’s immune system, according to the American Cancer Society.

“Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is not one disease, it’s many diseases,” according to Dr. Catherine Diefenbach, Director of Translational Hematology and Clinical Lymphoma at NYU Langone Health and the Perlmutter Cancer Center, who was not commenting specifically on Abby’s case. “And there are over 68 kinds of lymphoma.”

“For this reason, it’s very important that if you have a diagnosis of lymphoma, you’re treated by a lymphoma specialist. And, we hope for all of our lymphoma patients that the first therapy you receive will be your last therapy. That is, that we can treat you and cure you with first-line therapy.”

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Constance Costas is a writer for SurvivorNet.

Miller is working hard to regain her ability to walk after an aggressive cancerous tumor required multiple spinal surgeries
She resumed physical therapy when quarantine restrictions eased
After a difficult spring, her new, positive outlook is speeding her progress