Abby Lee Miller uses a wheelchair primarily because of serious health issues linked to an aggressive cancer in her spine and the surgeries and complications that followed, and she has also publicly connected her condition to how her medications were handled while she was in prison.

What actually happened

  • In 2018, Abby underwent emergency spinal surgery after doctors first suspected a spinal infection and then discovered Burkitt lymphoma, a fast-growing form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that affected her spine.
  • The cancer and surgery damaged her spine, leaving her with significant mobility issues and making it hard to walk without assistance, so she has relied heavily on a wheelchair since then.

Abby’s own explanation

  • Abby has said in interviews and on podcasts that she believes part of the reason she is now in a wheelchair is that, during her time in prison for bankruptcy fraud, she was abruptly taken off her regular medications “cold turkey,” which she describes as being “punished” for her celebrity status.
  • She links that medication disruption to her later medical crisis and spinal problems, although this is her personal claim and not a formal medical conclusion shared by doctors in public reports.

Ongoing health struggles

  • After her spinal surgery and cancer diagnosis, she went through intensive chemotherapy, which can weaken bones; she has since suffered multiple fractures in the same leg, including shattering her tibia and fibula in what she called a “freak accident” involving her chair.
  • These injuries have repeatedly set back her rehabilitation, and she has described being “wheelchair-bound” for years while continuing physical and occupational therapy to try to regain more ability to stand and walk.

Can she walk at all now?

  • Abby has shared that she can sometimes stand or take a few steps with support (for example, transferring to airplane seats), but that she still depends on her wheelchair for everyday mobility.
  • She has said her goal is to walk more independently again, and she continues exercises and therapy while also remaining active online and in the dance world, often talking openly about life with limited mobility and recovering from cancer.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.