Abby Lee Miller diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma
The 'Dance Moms' star will likely need chemotherapy, radiation
The 'Dance Moms' star will likely need chemotherapy, radiation
The 'Dance Moms' star will likely need chemotherapy, radiation
"Dance Moms" alum nearly died this week after contracting what doctors thought was a rare spinal infection, but turned out to be non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a form of cancer, reports .
While Miller's doctor, orthopedic spine surgeon Hooman M. Melamed, at Cedar Sinai Marina Del Ray Hospital, told People that the diagnosis was still preliminary, he's already speculating that the dance instructor will need further treatment.
“We’re getting an oncologist involved and we have to figure out what the next steps are as far as chemotherapy or radiation or more spine surgery," Melamed told People. "Depending on the tumor type, depending on the sensitivity of the tumor — it just depends [on] the type but I feel more than yes, she will undergo chemotherapy or radiation.”
reported that Miller underwent early-morning spinal surgery Tuesday, after going to the emergency room with complaints of persistent pain in her neck.
"In the span of 24 hours, which was something that I have not seen, her condition rapidly deteriorated," Melamed told People. "She was completely paralyzed from the neck down."
When he did a CT scan on Miller, Melamed saw that the infection had migrated all the way from the base of her neck to her lower back. If they hadn't rushed her into the five-hour surgery and removed certain parts of some vertebrae, she could have died.
Miller is now recovering, with feeling returning to her extremities, but Melamed can't yet say whether or not she'll be able to walk again after surgery.
“She’s made some recovery in 24 hours, which is better than no recovery,” he said. “Nobody wants to end up thinking they’re going to be paralyzed for the rest of their life. That’s a reality that’s facing all of these patients going into it. All you can do is pray and, as a surgeon, you maximize everything you can for the spinal cord to recover itself. I am hopeful.”
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a cancer of the body's white blood cells, which help the immune system function, the American Cancer Society . It is one of the most common cancers in the U.S., affecting nearly 75,000 people every year. More than half of patients are 65 and older at the time of diagnosis, the ACS says. The five-year survival rate for people with non-Hodgkin lymphoma is 70 percent, the reports.
On April 10, celebrity gossip site reported that Miller had been transferred from the halfway house, where she was serving out the tail end of a prison sentence for bankruptcy fraud, to a hospital. According to People, this previous hospitalization had to do with a thyroid condition.
As reported, Miller received a , after trying to cover up $755,000 in income while also filing for bankruptcy. She pleaded guilty in June 2016.
In March, she was moved from the Victorville Federal Correction Institute in California to the Residential Reentry Center in Long Beach. Before she began her prison term, the choreographer underwent gastric bypass surgery and lost around 100 pounds.
In a from behind bars in which her new physique was on full display, Miller sounded optimistic about life on the other side.
"My world flipped upside down when I had to enter prison," she wrote. "I have made friends with both inmates and staff, I’ve tried to better myself, participated in anything offered to me and I am a better person for this experience."
"I am feeling great and ready to turn over a new leaf thank you so much to everyone for your support especially my nearest and dearest I love you all," she added.
Melamed told much remains to be seen regarding Miller's prognosis. “There’s a chance this can spread to any part of the body … this is probably coming from somewhere else,” he says. “We don’t know where the source is. Any tumor that spreads anywhere is automatically Stage 4, but we have not determined the stage yet.”