Abby Lee Miller Is In Recovery After Nearly Dying From Spinal Infection

Abby Lee Miller’s doctor, Dr. Hooman M. Melamed, an orthopedic spine surgeon, says the reality star underwent surgery after she almost died.

The former Dance Mom’s star started experiencing “excruciating neck pain” and weakness in her arms.

“Over the next two days, her condition started deteriorating,” Dr. Melamed told People Magazine.

“Not just her pain, but her weakness started getting worse. In the span of 24 hours, which was something that I have not seen, her condition rapidly deteriorated. She was completely paralyzed from the neck down,” he added.

Abby was being treated at Cedar Sinai Marina Del Rey Hospital when her blood pressure dropped dangerously low and doctors determined that an infection had spread from her neck to her back.

“We did a CT and we saw what appeared to be an infection that had spread from the bottom of her neck all the way to the lower part of her back… which is extremely unusual,” he said.

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

Abby has begun to feel more sensation since her surgery, but her doctor said that whether she’ll be able to walk again depends on how she recovers.

“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.”