Abby Lee Miller wants to ramp up her physical therapy and get back in shape so she can walk again more quickly after cancer.
“PT! Getting better each time, but 1hr two times a week will never get me walking again! Come on Physical Therapists get me into an intensive program so I can walk again!!!,” she wrote in a recent Instagram post, alongside a video that focuses on her feet doing a little dance, bending her knees slightly and stepping forward and back while she narrates the steps in the background. “Heal, step, heal, step,” she says as her feet tap along.
Supporters were really encouraging, “You will be able to do it,,, keep it the workkk. [heart]”
Information about staying active during cancer
A lot of people are tempted to throw in the towel when it comes to exercising after a cancer diagnosis. With all the other things going on in your life, it can be hard to find the motivation to stay active.
Abby Lee Miller (Image source: Bravo TV).
Research has found people with cancer who do moderate exercise have no negative side effects, and has demonstrated that those who exercised regularly had 40% to 50% less fatigue, the primary complaint during treatment, according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
"Lack of exercise actually begets fatigue," Dr. Marleen Meyers, a medical oncologist and Director of the Cancer Survivorship Program at NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet in a previous conversation about how to deal with some of chemo's most difficult side effects. "So the best treatment for fatigue is exercise. And what we have to do is get people over the hump, to get initial exercise going." Dr. Meyers treats patients with breast cancer, but she said her advice applies to many other cancers as well.
For survivor Heather Maloney, the drive to keep moving came from the fact that she knew exercising regularly would put her in better shape to fight the disease. “With cancer you never know,” Heather says. “But I want to do everything I can to make my chances of a long life better.”
Survivors tell us about all sorts of activities they’ve taken up to stay active, and in fighting shape. Heather got into dragon boating – a rowing sport that a lot of cancer survivors are getting into across the U.S. and beyond. “When we come together, it’s about the boat and it’s about all the things around the boat,” Heather says. “It’s about competing, it’s about practicing, it’s about eating, it’s about getting in better shape … people aren’t talking about cancer, and if you are, you’re talking to the people that you know on the boat if something starts to pop up.”
Abby Lee Miller and exercise after cancer
Last year, Miller underwent an emergency surgery on her spine, which revealed she had a cancer called Burkitt lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The surgery also left her unable to walk, and she has been confined to a wheelchair since.
In a recent Instagram post, alongside a video of herself doing aerobic exercises and photos of her personal trainer stretching her feet, she wrote, “Another session w/ my trainer @coachcarlosfundamentals working on baby squats to strengthen the muscles around my knees. Firing my hip flexors & glutes quicker should help with walking! [prayer emoji]”
“Good job Abby love u keep up the hard work I'm prayin for u to regain full mobility xoxo”
“OMG Abby i am so happy that your practicing your walking may God Bless You. Ilysm!![hearts]”
Abby Lee Miller’s first steps
Abby Lee Miller walked again for the first time earlier this month — and the little steps she took across the stage on “The Doctors” made for an incredibly emotional moment.
Adjusting to life in a wheelchair was a struggle for Miller, whose career–choreographing dance at her studio, Abby Lee Miller Dance Company–relies heavily on physical movement. But Miller learned to adapt her movements to continue doing what she loves — a process many cancer survivors with physical limitations must go through. Miller continued, for instance, teaching dance from her wheelchair (and even incorporated her chair in one of the dances).
On the recent episode of “The Doctors,” a day-time health talk show that often features celebrity guest, Miller slowly stood up, and, with the help of a walker, took several very small steps on stage. The audience applauded her, and in the caption to a clip of the moment she shared on Instagram, Miller wrote about how emotional she felt.
“Watching this made me cry!,” Miller wrote. “Thank you @thedoctorstv for letting me share my story with the world! Dr Lawrence Piro, Dr Hooman Mellomed, Dr Christopher Boudakian, Dr Simoni for your wisdom and kindness. My PT was so amazing, CRI is the best! I'm not nearly as strong as I was during this taping. I have a long way to go – if there's 1 thing I know, it's that I'm a fighter and there's no such thing as ‘can't’!”
On the same episode of “The Doctors,” Dr. Lawrence Piro, an oncologist and the President and CEO of The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute (an affiliate of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Canter) said, “The minute Abby was in remission, she took off, trying to get her life back.” Miller smiled and nodded her head at this, as Dr. Piro continued, “right after we finished (treatment) she took off to Pittsburgh to film a new season of ‘Dance Moms.’ And she was running at full-tilt doing it all.'”
Miller told E! News that, when she’s “in the zone” on “Dance Moms,” she “forgets the chair is there.”
Dr. Piro shared that, although Miller is in remission for her cancer, 10-20 percent of people with Burkitt lymphoma experience a recurrence (meaning their cancer comes back), indicating that Miller will need to be closely monitored.
