Olympic Gymnast Shannon Miller on the Diagnosis That Changed Her Life: ‘My World Stopped’

Former Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller’s journey to being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2011 started with a doctor’s appointment she nearly missed. “I admit I almost canceled, but I thought better of it,” she says. “During that appointment, my doctor found a baseball-sized cyst on my left ovary.”

Miller, who is now 46 and tied with Simone Biles as the most decorated American Olympic gymnast in history, underwent a series of tests and scans. In January 2011, she was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer. “My world stopped,” Miller says. “They had caught it early, and the prognosis was good, but I would need to go through this pretty aggressive chemotherapy regimen.” 

At the time, Miller’s son had just turned a year old and she had recently launched a company that was devoted to women’s health and wellness. “I had no idea what my future would hold — if I had a future,” she said. “I didn’t know if my son was going to have a mother. So, it’s very real conversations that you have with yourself.” 

Miller says she tried to stay positive and focus on the treatment steps that were laid out for her, which included surgery, followed by chemotherapy about a month later. “At that point, I kind of reverted back to that competitive mindset I knew so well through sport — those life lessons of goal-setting and teamwork, positive mindset resiliency,” she says. “I could kind of shift that mentality to fight mode. ‘OK, I’m going to give it all I have, I’m going to get through chemotherapy.’”

But Miller says she wasn’t aware at the time how challenging chemotherapy would be. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” she says. 

However, she learned to focus on things that she could control. That included setting goals for herself with hydration, getting enough protein in her diet, and focusing on her mental health. “I was really focused on giving myself these pep talks and really getting into that headspace that I was going to get through treatment without stopping and without having any breaks,” she says. 

Chemotherapy was a huge challenge for Miller, who says she struggled with gastrointestinal issues, nausea, and fatigue. “At the end of the first week of chemo, I landed back in the hospital because I couldn’t keep down food. I couldn’t keep down water,” she says. “If I didn’t get a handle on it, I wasn’t going to be able to stay on track with my treatments.” 

Miller says she heard from cancer survivors during that time on how to stay healthy, including doing yoga to help with nausea and fatigue, getting outside and in the fresh air as much as possible. Miller ended up having chemotherapy five days in the first week, followed by treatments once a week. She ultimately underwent three rounds of treatment over nine weeks. 

Miller has now been cancer-free for 12 years, a status she says she’s “excited” about. She’s partnered with Enterade to promote the company’s Advanced Oncology Beverage, which is designed to help with the gastrointestinal symptoms she experienced. “Now there are more opportunities to alleviate some of those symptoms by things that weren’t available at the time,” she says. “I’m thrilled to be a part of talking about supportive care and those things that we can do to conquer some of those GI issues, the things that we don’t really want to talk about when we’re battling cancer.”

Miller is no longer tumbling, but the mom of two does commentary and broadcasting for Olympic gymnastics coverage every four years. “It is so much fun to watch these athletes go out there — you know how hard they’ve worked,” she says. 

When it comes to ovarian cancer and managing symptoms and treatment, Miller wants patients to remember that they’re not alone. She also stresses the importance of speaking up about symptoms during treatment. “I didn’t want to complain. I didn’t want to burden anyone else. And I was trying to do this on my own, which clearly we cannot,” she says. “Please reach out to your medical team. If you’re not feeling well let them know, because there are things that can help.” 

Not only can your doctor help you to feel better, getting symptom relief can help you stay on your treatment course, she says. “When we feel better, we can fight cancer harder,” Miller says. “Just know that you’re not alone.”