Teddi Mellencamp broke down while discussing the “debilitating” reality of battling stage 4 cancer with children.
The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star told Entertainment Tonight how she and Edwin Arroyave have managed their family, Dove, 5, Cruz, 10, and Slate, 12, amid her health issues.
ICYMI, Teddi revealed earlier that her melanoma metastasized to her brain and lungs earlier this year.
Teddi’s heart broke not being able to go to Dove’s birthday party:
Fighting tears, Teddi was emotional talking about her children. There’s “debilitating pain that I feel some days thinking about the fact that my kids are young. That is extremely frightening.”
Teddi recalled one particularly heartbreaking day in the hospital. “I was like, ‘I feel like today might be Dove’s birthday.’ And Edwin’s like, ‘It is. It’s her party today that you planned.’”
She asked, “Can they please just let me out for today?” Edwin had to remind Teddi that she went through “massive brain surgery.” She didn’t realize there was a “hole in [her] head” after the operation.
Shout out to Edwin for “saying exactly what [she] needed him to say.”
“We’ll throw another one” when Teddi is able to celebrate with the rest of the family. Nonetheless, her “heart broke” at the thought of Dove remembering that her mom “wasn’t there.”
Teddi’s health journey:
The RHOBH alum was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma in October 2022. She underwent more than a dozen surgeries and got a clean bill of health in January 2024.
In February, Teddi had to undergo emergency surgery after “doctors found multiple tumors on [her] brain. They believe [had] been growing for at least 6 months. More tumors were removed than expected.”
She announced in March that her medical team discovered “more tumors in [her] brain” as well as some in her lungs.
Now, she’s “fighting for [her] life.”
The publication noted that the Mellencamp dynasty has a “family mausoleum in Indiana.”
