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Teddi Mellencamp is sharing a significant health update, announcing her stage 4 cancer has metastasized, and doctors have found four new tumors.
The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum and daughter of rocker John Mellencamp revealed the news in an Us Weekly interview published Wednesday.
“There are some days (where) I think you’re allowed to say, ‘I don’t feel confident right now, I feel very uncomfortable and I want to wear a wig.’ And there are some days that I’m like, ‘It is what it is.’ Some days, I’m really sad and really scared, and some days, I’m like, ‘I got this; I’m not worried,’” Mellencamp told the magazine.
“I’m fighting for my life, but also for my family’s life and all the people I love,” Mellencamp added.
Last month, Mellencamp revealed she underwent emergency surgery after several tumors were found on her brain. The podcaster, who co-hosts “Two Ts in a Pod” with fellow Real Housewife Tamra Judge, has long been open about her health on the pair’s hit iHeartMedia podcast.
Teddi Mellencamp reveals stage 4 cancer diagnosis
In a statement shared to Instagram on Feb. 12, the “RHOBH” alum said she received her diagnosis after being hospitalized for a series of “severe and debilitating headaches.”
Mellencamp told the magazine that she has stage 4 melanoma, a type of skin cancer she has long struggled with, that has metastasized to her lungs and brain. The four additional tumors were discovered on her brain late last month on March 26, according to Us Weekly.
“After a CT scan and MRI, doctors found multiple tumors on my brain, which they believe have been growing for at least 6 months,” the 43-year-old wrote.
“I am blessed to be surrounded by my children, family, friends, doctors, nurses and surgeons who are doing everything possible to get me back into better health,” Mellencamp concluded. “Thank you to everybody who has reached out, and to everyone who has supported me along this journey,” she continued.
Teddi Mellencamp divorce from Edwin Arroyave paused
Mellencamp was in the midst of a tense divorce from home security entrepreneur Edwin Arroyave before being diagnosed, but she told Us Weekly that they’ve hit pause on their divorce amid her cancer battle.
“It was so bad for a while,” Mellencamp said of the divorce. “I was like, ‘How did this happen to me and my best friend of 16 years?’ We’ve always made each other laugh. We always pushed each other’s buttons, and (that made) it fun.
“And us not being able to have that for a long time was really sad and hard. If any part of this was for a reason, the second that I got sick, he completely changed. It’s a silver lining,” she said. “He’s been there for me a hundred percent, he’s been there for the kids, and we’re back to laughing. We call it the ‘Divorce Chronicles.’”
Mellencamp, with her signature humor, told Us Weekly that she has a plan now that she is on good terms with Arroyave: “I want to talk (to her husband) about the kind of girls (he’s) going to marry… because if these people are going to take care of my kids, this is what I want, and this is the definition of what I don’t want.”
Contributing: Edward Segarra
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