Mackenzie McKee: My Mom Is FINALLY Done With Chemo!

There was a time when it looked as though Mackenzie McKee would replace Farrah Abraham on Teen Mom OG.

Ultimately, the show’s producers decided to go in a different direction, casting Bristol Palin and Cheyenne Floyd instead.

But fan interest in Mackenzie and her family remains at an all-time high.

Fortunately, we’ve been able to keep up on the latest developments with the McKees thanks to Mackenzie’s social media posts and a recent Where Are They Now? Teen Mom special that checked in on the family.

As you may recall, Mackenzie’s mother, Angie Douthit, suffers from stage 4 cancer.

Both Angie and Mackenzie have made the courageous decision to offer regular updates during this intensely difficult time in hopes that they might serve as an inspiration to others who are struggling.

And this week, Angie was finally able to share some good news with fans in the form of the video below.

In the clip, Douthit triumphantly rings a bell to celebrate the end of her intravenous chemo treatments.

Angie Douthit Completes Chemo

“I got to ring the bell!” Angie wrote on Instagram.

“I wore my Wonder Woman shirt because I wore it to my first chemo treatment and thought it only fitting to wear it to my last IV chemo treatment.”

She went on to demonstrate the humor and optimism that have endeared her to so many Teen Mom fans over the years:

“(Yes, I wore it to school all day too!) I was the first one to ring the new bell that wasn’t even mounted to the wall yet. Ringing the bell signifies that I’m finished with all my rounds of chemo.

“Although I’m still taking a chemo pill everyday, I’m through with IV chemo.”

Proving once again that she’s an almost impossibly selfless person, Douthit stated that one of her favorite parts of completing this stage of treatment was seeing how happy it made her husband:

“Brad and I celebrated last night with dinner at his favorite restaurant,” she wrote.

“Watching him be so relaxed and celebrating brought joy to my heart. God has been so good.

“I haven’t been very sick from the chemo, I’m still working, and I still have my eyelashes lol,” Angie continued.

“It was 18 weeks of being carried by the love of God… I have no control over my future,” she added.

“None of us do. But, we can relax and be calm knowing our big God is in control because he loves us so much!”

The post is a far cry from the one Angie wrote back in June, in which she opened up about how much she was dreading the chemotherapy process.

“This morning we leave at 7:30 to begin another new journey,” Douthit wrote at the time.

“IV chemo… As I’ve shared before, I dread chemo. However, God revealed to me that if I never had to go through IV chemo I would never fully understand cancer.”

Sadly, Angie is not out of the woods yet, but the thoughts and prayers of millions are with her as she completes her recovery.

Here’s hoping for another upbeat update in the very near future.

View Slideshow: Mackenzie McKee Pays Heartbreaking Tribute to Dying Mother

ReadMore…

Abby Lee Miller: Holding Dance Moms Auditions While Undergoing Chemo

Just a couple of weeks ago, Abby Lee Miller teased the return of Dance Moms.

Now, sources are confirming that the series is coming back for an 8th season, starring Miller, who is already looking for fresh-faced new stars.

Not bad for a woman undergoing chemotherapy for cancer just months after getting out of prison, wouldn’t you say?

Yes, if Miller’s own tease (or threat!) that she was coming back to star on more Dance Moms wasn’t enough for you, worry no longer.

A source confirms to Entertainment Tonight that Dance Moms is returning. This will be the show’s 8th season.

And, though Dancing With The Stars pro Cheryl Burke temporarily took the reigns last year, Miller will be back.

If you were hoping for further proof, the Dance Moms casting page is looking for new cast members, ages 7 to 12.

And Miller is in charge.

The page says: “Abby Lee Miller is currently holding auditions for her new ALDC elite competition team.”

Miller is known to have complained about unbearable working situations on Dance Moms in the past, but she has made it clear that this was not the fault of the children.

“I don’t have a problem working with any kid,” Abby wrote. “I love children and have dedicated my life to making other people’s children successful!”

Some have accused of her of being overbearing in dealing with children or of being unpleasant and harsh.

But Miller says that her issue with Dance Moms had less to do with the children and everything to do with male producers.

“I JUST HAVE A PROBLEM WITH BEING MANIPULATED, DISRESPECTED, AND USED,” Miller wrote in all caps.

“DAY IN AND DAY OUT BY MEN WHO NEVER TOOK A DANCE LESSON IN THEIR LIVES,” Miller continued. “AND TREAT WOMEN LIKE DIRT!”

Miller is battling more than producers at the moment, however, which is why this Dance Moms news comes as something of a shock to so many people.

She has Burkitt lymphoma, a type of fast-spreading cancer that threatened to paralyze her just months ago. It was during her first emergency spinal surgery that doctors were able to identify that the “infection” was cancer.

The good news is that Burkitt generally has a 90% recovery rate.

The bad news is that it’s usually found in children, and the recovery rate in adults is said to be lower.

The other good news is that, because Burkitt lymphoma is a fast-spreading cancer, doctors say that it also responds quickly to treatment.

Last month, Abby Lee Miller underwent a second emergency surgery as part of her ongoing cancer battle.

The Dance Moms star even shared a graphic post-op photo, showing how the incision along her spine was healing.

Hopefully, she will not need to undergo any further drastic procedures.

For her sake, and for the sake of her return to the reality series that launched her to fame.

But while we don’t foresee Miller spendng a lot of time flashing her back scars on camera, there’s likely to be one difficult-to-ignore sign of her cancer battle when she starts filming the series in earnest.

In Miller’s most recent photos, she has been covering her head — with hats or towels.

In others, she simply keeps her hair out of the camera’s view.

Recently, she posted “Hair today, gone tomorrow” to her Instagram captions, warning followes that she anticipated hair loss as she undergoes chemotherapy treatments.

Many fans expect that she will wear wigs while on Dance Moms.

But it is indisputably better to lose your hair for a little while than to lose your life.

It also remains unclear how much of Miller’s cancer battle will be addressed on the series. It may be that she is soon cancer-free.

At the moment, she is focused on casting. Would you want your child to star on Dance Moms?

ReadMore…

Abby Lee Miller: Struggling During Chemo Treatments

Abby Lee Miller has cancer.

Though she is reportedly getting her affairs in order in case her cancer proves to be terminal, she’s fighting it.

A new report sheds some light on how that is going.

A source tells People the details of Abby Lee Miller’s cancer battle as she remains in the hospital.

“She is undergoing chemo and has good days and bad days.”

If you know someone who has undergone chemotherapy for cancer or for any other ailment, you know how hard that can be on a person.

“But overall she’s staying optimistic and looking forward.”

That is so good to hear.

Not only for her personal mental and emotional wellness, but because there seems to be corollary between optimism and defeating certain types of cancer.

Abby Lee Miller was diagnosed with cancer only a short time after leaving prison for a halfway house.

She went in for spinal surgery for what doctors had initially believed would be some sort of infection that was causing paralysis.

Instead, she was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, a kind of non-Hodgkins lymphoma more commonly found in children than in adults.

Among children, the fast-spreading cancer has about a 90% recovery rate.

However, among adults, the odds of beating back the cancer are said to be somewhat lower.

Miller shared this graphic photo from her surgery.

This wince-worthy photo, taken post-op, came from Miller’s five-hour multi-level laminectomy back in April.

A laminectomy involves removing the back of vertebrae in the spine in order to access the spinal cord itself.

That alone was bad enough to contemplate without the added horror of a cancer diagnosis.

The news that cancer is fast-spreading is frightening for obvious reasons.

The good news, however, is that fast-spreading cancer like Burkitt lymphoma tend to respond more rapidly to treatments like chemo.

Miller spoke out after her cancer diagnosis without addressing her cancer directly.

With the former Dance Moms star, it has been one thing after another.

She served most of her sentence for bankruptcy fraud in prison, though the court did allow her to serve her time a relatively short distance from her California home.

While in prison, she lost a tremendous amount of weight thanks to weight loss surgery that she had undergone prior to her incarceration.

She was then released — after an unexpected delay — to a halfway house to serve out the remainder of her sentence.

She is scheduled to be released from there on May 25.

Though it is unknown at this time, it is expected that her time spent in the hospital will count towards her sentence and that, whether she’s still in the hospital or not, she will be freed on May 25 as scheduled.

But one can never be certain.

Abby Lee Miller did not do much to gain people’s sympathy while she starred on Dance Moms.

Though she certainly attracted plenty of fans, some others saw her as a bully who essentially terrorized children for a living.

There was a certain level of schadenfreude when it was announced that she would be sent to prison. That’s fine.

But let us be clear: no one deserves to have cancer. Our hearts go out to Miller and to her friends and loved ones during this time.

We wish her a full and speedy recovery.

View Slideshow: Celebrities Who Beat Cancer

ReadMore…

Julia Louis-Dreyfus" Sons Celebrate Her Last Day of Chemo

Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ last day of chemo was Thursday and her 2 sons celebrated the milestone in her breast cancer battle with a video tribute … and an assist from Michael Jackson. Julia posted the vid of 20-year-old Charlie and 25-year-old Henry…

ReadMore…

Ami Brown: Done with Chemo!

The matriarch of the Brown family who star on Alaskan Bush People has been waging an uphill battle against cancer.

Weekend before last, Ami Brown was hospitalized again for chemotherapy treatments. She was even hospitalized through her birthday.

This new report says that she’s done with chemo … for now … as she prepares for the family’s next step.

Accusations have recently come to light that much of what we’ve seen of Alaskan Bush People is less than authentic, with the family being furnished with supplies and sleeping in a hotel when the cameras aren’t rolling.

That’s not really a surprise though, right?

It’s a reality series.

Everyone involved knows that the camera is right there, with sound people and producers that certainly outnumber the Brown family in every scene.

In fact, it’s actually nice to hear that the Brown family had the bare minimum of creature comforts while filming.

We hate to imagine anyone really living in the woods like that. Especially children.

But even if you’re one of the people calling out the series as “fake,” you have to realize one thing:

Ami Brown’s cancer is all too real.

According to the Facebook page, Alaskan Bush People Exposed, which often reports on aspects of the Brown family that don’t make it on camera, Ami Brown is making considerable progress despite her diagnosis and the rigors of treatment.

“Ami has finished chemotherapy treatment for now and they are scheduled to start filming in a few weeks.”

Often, Alaskan Bush People Exposed simply shares fan photos that show members of the Brown family out and about in public, but they also tend to reveal information that seems to come from sources very close to the Brown family and to production.

This isn’t the page’s first update on Ami’s medical situation.

Well before Billy Brown described Ami’s cancer as “bad news,” it was Alaskan Bush People Exposed who reported that her lung cancer had progressed to Stage 4.

We’re all rooting for her, but we know that, statistically, the odds of surviving cancer that’s caught this late are frighteningly slim.

First of all, it’s good that she has completed her first round of chemo!

Going through chemo is, we believe, the right choice.

She’s fighting for her life, even though chemotherapy can be absolutely agonizing.

We suspect that she already has more chemo sessions scheduled.

Second of all, remember when everyone thought that Alaskan Bush People was coming to an end?

“Everyone” was kind of right, since the family has moved to Colorado to build a new “homestead.”

The best thing about the new location is that they’re not too far from a hospital.

Throughout Ami Brown’s health crisis, from her diagnosis of Stage 3 lung cancer to a reported updated diagnosis of Stage 4, fans and followers have been hoping and praying for her recovery.

Unfortunately, a few who perhaps don’t know what it’s like to have a terminally ill relative have lashed out at Ami Brown’s children.

First, there were accusations that Noah Brown had abandoned his family because he and his fiancee were at a zoo instead of wailing and gnashing their teeth.

(Or whatever it is that the critics had expected him to do)

Rain Brown hit back at haters over her selfies, and good for her, you know? Living your life and remembering how to smile are important through any family crisis.

Snapping some selfies doesn’t mean that she somehow doesn’t love her mother. Gosh.

View Slideshow: Alaskan Bush People: 13 Secrets They Don’t Want You to Know

ReadMore…

Houston Texans David Quessenberry Completes Chemo, Breaks Victory Bell!

When Houston Texans offensive tackle David Quessenberry finished his last round of chemotherapy after a 3 year battle, he got to ring the victory bell at the hospital … AND BROKE THE DAMN THING!  It’s actually an awesome video ……

ReadMore…

Shahs of Sunset Season 5 Episode 9 Recap: Can You Fake Chemo?

Last night on Shahs of Sunset Season 5 Episode 9, the drama was off the hook at Asa’s fashion show … and with Mike and Jessica.

What else is new with those two, right?

If you watch Shahs of Sunset online, you’re more than caught up on the drama with these two – and their associates – on the regular.

Still, things went to the next level here.

Shahs of Sunset Season 5 Episode 9, entitled “Lights, Camera, Kaftans!” ostensibly focused on Asa Soltan Rahmati’s kaftan fashion show.

Of course, there’s always a subplot.

When Reza Farahan saw Golnesa “GG” Gharachedaghi at the show, his reaction was “She doesn’t look like someone about to get chemo.”

And there’s your gossip/conflict.

“No one can confirm anything,” Reza adds, rolling his eyes and then dispensing with any pleasantries. “I doubt her story more than ever.”

Later, he took it to her a bit.

“We’re very concerned about you … what’s going on?” Reza asks, perhaps (definitely) baiting her, to which she replies, “With what?”

GG did go on to explain later what’s going on. “They say it’s very aggressive and ‘you have to do the intravenous chemo,’” she says.

As she told the others, including her brother Shervin Roohparvar, that “it’s two hours once a month,” Reza up and walked out of the room.

“I think Golnesa is lying about having RA (rheumatoid arthritis),” he reiterated as Shervin’s jaw hit the floor upon hearing such a thing.

“Why would someone do something like that?” Shervin asks, but later admits that “Reza brings up some really good points” re: GG.

Specifically, if her condition is so bad, why is she still doing her thing – her thing being drinking, smoking and clubbing until all hours?

“Maybe she’s exaggerating a little bit,” Shervin suggests, raising the question of whether one can really exaggerate something like chemo.

On reality TV these days, with the characters that are on this show and the lengths producers will go to in order to concoct a good story?

We wouldn’t be surprised. The Real Housewives of Orange County and Beverly Hills have both played the possibly-fake disease card.

Just saying. It’s a Bravo thang.

View Slideshow: 18 Reality TV Show Families That Make Us Want to Vomit