Abby Lee Miller May Never Walk Again, Source Says: She's 'Trying to Stay Positive'

By Christina Dugan

After months of chemotherapy and rehabilitation, Abby Lee Miller is continuing her fight.

“Abby has been trying to stay positive throughout this journey, but it’s been tough,” an insider tells PEOPLE. “She’s getting a little stronger every day, but we don’t know if she’ll ever walk again.”

A second source says that Miller “is leaving rehab tomorrow to undergo more chemotherapy. Abby’s tough, and she continues to keep her spirits up as she focuses on her health.”

In April, one day after undergoing emergency surgery for what was initially thought to be a spinal infection, the 51-year-old — newly released from prison — was preliminarily diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that develops in the lymphatic system.

“It was not an infection, it was a type of a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma – it’s a type of a cancer,” said Dr. Hooman M. Melamed, an orthopedic spine surgeon at Cedar Sinai Marina Del Rey Hospital who has been treating the star.

“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. Depending on the tumor type, depending on the sensitivity of the tumor – it just depends the type but I feel more than yes, she will undergo chemotherapy or radiation,” Dr. Melamed said at the time.

“If we didn’t do something, she was going to die,” Dr. Melamed told PEOPLE. “Her blood pressure was bottoming out. She was not doing well.”

In recent months, Miller has been keeping her fans updated on her progress — and her adventures.

On Wednesday, the reality star shared a photo of herself in a wheelchair outside a mall, writing, “Hallelujah! I’m headed to the Mall! I’ve only been once in 13 long painful months. For a lifelong shopper like me that’s absolute torture!!!”

Before her diagnosis, Miller had been living in a halfway house since serving her 366-day sentence for bankruptcy fraud at the Victorville Federal Correctional Institution in California, which she entered in July.

Last month, a rep for Lifetime confirmed that production for Dance Moms is casting and Miller is involved in the process. Though, determination on an eighth season has yet to be made.

In March 2017, the dance instructor announced her resignation from the show in an Instagram post, accusing officials behind the series of treating her “like dirt” after she wrapped filming for season 7B.

“I WILL NO LONGER TAKE PART IN DANCE MOMS,” Miller wrote. “FOR THE PAST SIX YEARS/SEVEN SEASONS I HAVE ASKED, BEGGED, AND EVEN DEMANDED CREATIVE CREDIT FOR ALL THE IDEAS, AWARD WINNING ROUTINES, THEMES AND COSTUMING – TO NO AVAIL!”

“I don’t have a problem working with any kid, I love children and have dedicated my life to making other people’s children successful!” she continued. “I JUST HAVE A PROBLEM WITH BEING MANIPULATED, DISRESPECTED, AND USED – DAY IN AND DAY OUT BY MEN WHO NEVER TOOK A DANCE LESSON IN THEIR LIVES AND TREAT WOMEN LIKE DIRT!”