Abby Lee Miller Diagnosed With Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Following Release From Jail

Abby Lee Miller has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is cancer that develops in the lymphatic system.

The diagnosis was confirmed on Wednesday evening (April 17) by People following emergency surgery for what was originally thought to be a spinal infection.

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Abby Lee Miller

“It was not an infection, it was a type of a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma – it’s a type of a cancer. 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,” said her doctor Dr. Hooman M. Melamed.

Abby first went to the hospital after experiencing “excruciating neck pain” and underwent surgery on Tuesday (April 17).

“She’s made some recovery in 24 hours, which is better than no recovery. 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.”

“There’s a chance this can spread to any part of the body … this is probably coming from somewhere else. “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.”

Abby was released from jail at the end of March after serving one year for 20 counts of fraud for hiding $755,000 in income from the government.

For more about the diagnosis, visit People.com.