Real Housewives' Teddi Mellencamp says doctors failed to spot stage 4 cancer spreading
Reality TV star Teddi Mellencamp has said that doctors didn't realise that her cancer was spreading to her brain and lungs. She's also opened up about having not requested scans that could have spotted the metastasized tumours.
Teddi, 44, who is best known for having been on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, shared that she had been diagnosed with skin cancer in 2022. She's since said to have had 17 spots of melanoma removed from her back.
Then, earlier this year, she told fans that doctors hadn't realised that the cancer had spread. She announced that stage four tumours in her brain and lungs had been found, adding that doctors suspected that they had been growing for at least 6 months by the time they were discovered.
Teddi, who competed on the US version of Celebrity Big Brother the same year that she shared her initial diagnosis, had emergency brain surgery, radiation and immunotherapy treatment after the secondary cancer was found. She's continued to share updates with fans since then.
Whilst interviewed by her pal and former RHOBH co-star Kyle Richards for Glamour magazine recently, Teddi spoke about having not questioned why she didn't have certain scans after the initial melonamos were identified. It came after Kyle suggested that she would ask for scans to detect potential spreading if she had "that much" skin cancer and it's "that aggressive". She however said "that wasn't ever brought up" to Teddi.
Sharing her thoughts on her experience, Teddi said: "When you go to a doctor, you just assume that's it." She told Kyle that she thought she was doing what she was "supposed" to do and admitted to not researching herself initially because she didn't want to know "the bad things".
Teddi, who's the daughter of singer John Mellencamp, added in the interview published earlier this week: "I never really thought about it because I was like, I go to a doctor every three months. Why wouldn't they get me checked?"
She said that her "highest" melanoma on her shoulder had been stage one. Teddi said that when she "finally followed up on it" she was told that scans hadn't been done because she "didn't have" anything above stage one on her body.
In the interview, Teddi, who said that she's "patiently" waiting for the day that she's told she's "cancer-free," also shared advice for fans, including telling them to trust their gut instinct. She recalled having not felt well for a "long time" before seeking medical attention, admitting that she had "self-diagnosed" instead.
Her comments come after she announced in February that her cancer had metastasized to her brain. She said at the time: "For the last several weeks I've been dealing with severe and debilitating headaches. Yesterday the pain was unbearable and required hospitalisation. After a CT scan and MRI, doctors found multiple tumours on my brain, which they believe have been growing for at least 6 months."
Teddi told fans that two tumours would be surgically removed and that the remaining smaller ones would be dealt with through radiation. She added: "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."
Two weeks later though, Teddi announced that two more tumours than "expected" had been removed. Then in March, she said that multiple tumours in her brain weren't able to be removed via surgry and that she also had two tumours in her lungs. She said: "These are all metastases of my melanoma. The doctors are hopeful that immunotherapy will effectively treat them."
The following month, Teddi told fans: "All tumours stage 4 (metastasized melanoma in my brain and lungs) shrunk or disappeared so I have 6ish more weeks of immunotherapy and doctors believe I will be healed if everything stays on course."
Reflecting on her experience, she wrote in April: "It's been 76 days since I went to the ER with unbearable headaches and quickly found out I had multiple stage 4 tumors 'the size of plums' in my brain and lungs. Melanoma had metastasized there and been there for '6 months to a year' and we had no clue."
The Macmillan Support Line offers confidential support to people living with cancer and their loved ones. If you need to talk, call us on 0808 808 0000.
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I understand,' she told her cohost Erika Jayne. Mellencamp said if that were the case she told him, 'I would not be mad at you for not even a second.' However, it seems her new friend is in for the long haul. 'He's like, 'I am willing to do anything to be able to spend time with you."' When it comes to her cancer battle, the influencer had some hopeful news and some disappointing news to share on her own Two Ts in a Pod podcast with her friend and co-host Tamara Judge. Following her most recent MRI, doctors found 'the tumors have not grown at all, if anything they're shrinking, I'm in the one-percent range of improvement.' The Certified Wellness coach has been undergoing immunotherapy to treat her cancer which she has revealed often leave her felling tired and run down, following a series of radiation treatments. Doctors removed four tumors from her brain in February, but others remained in her brain and lungs. In spite of the improvements, Mellencamp said the doctors told her that she still has stage 4 cancer.
