Teddi Mellencamp Bravely Shares Melanoma Stage 2 Diagnosis & Plan For Treatment: ‘I Have Faith’
Teddi Mellencamp revealed she had more cancerous spots removed from her skin following her diagnosis reveal last week. Get all the details of her latest update here.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Teddi Mellencamp has given an update on her treatment plan for her stage 2 melanoma diagnosis, which she revealed one week ago. In a detailed and heartfelt post to Instagram on Tuesday, Oct. 18, the 41-year-old star announced that her melanoma removal scheduled for that day had been canceled because more had been found on her back. “Thanks for all your comments and prayers on what I thought was going to be my melanoma removal today,” she began. “Right before I left for NYC they took 2 additional adjacent moles and biopsied them to be safe. While I was away, those results also came back melanoma.”
“Due to so many melanomas in one area they are worried to cut in there and try to remove because they aren’t sure what they would be cutting into,” Teddi continued. She next revealed that she instead is getting a PET scan, or a positron emission tomography, “to determine how far the cancer has spread.” After that, she will have a meeting with a hematology specialist to discuss her options for treatment once her cancer is better understood. “Your doctor will determine your treatment plan based on the other factors of your disease, your age, and your ability to tolerate treatment,” she explained. Finally, she said she will then meet a surgical oncologist “and we will go from there.”
Following a similar tone as her diagnosis revelation post from Oct. 11, Teddi said she would keep fans updated throughout her journey. “I will continue to keep you updated because melanoma awareness is something I never really knew anything about and want to remind as many of you as I can to get skin checks,” she wrote. “Feeling very grateful and blessed that we caught this when we did and that I have so many incredible doctors and surgeons working with me today to hopefully get the best outcome.”
The busy mom also continued her positivity and advocacy for skin checks in her caption. “I have faith and lots of support from friends, family, doctors and surgeons that all will be ok,” she said. “Something in me is making me want to continue to share this personal information because I want to continue to reiterate the importance of getting your skin checks. Sending love all your way.”
Teddi has been staying positive through the process and continued to by sharing a light note about her PET scan on her Instagram Story on Tuesday as well. She explained that she got a special dye injected into her that helps capture better images during the scan, and a side effect of the injection is the feeling that you went to the bathroom — and that’s exactly what happened to her. “I yelled, ‘Sorry sir take me out. I peed my pants,'” she wrote on her Story. “He yelled back. ‘It feels that way but you didn’t.’ He was right. I did not.”
In a follow-up post, Teddi shared an image of her back scars where she’s had melanoma removed and other spots tested. “Post PET scan update: looking at PET scans and they think I’m predisposed to melanomas,” she revealed. “I will need wide encision surgery removal and nodal mapping. During the surgery they will also do a sentinel lymphnoid biopsy. Because with a PET scan they can’t see if it’s spread to lymph nodes. I am getting 2 more biopsies of new locations today and surgery is on Tuesday. Spots 3 & 4 in the pic near my shoulder are the ones they are concerned could go to lymph nodes and will be a large connected removal. Then will meet with a geneticist to see if I could possibly have the BRCA2 mutation.”
Taking a break from speaking about melanoma on Oct. 19, Teddi took to Instagram to share a picture of herself laughing with three of her gorgeous kids. “Whenever I need a smile, a laugh, a snuggle… I know my family are a guarantee,” she sweetly penned in the caption. “What’s something in your world that you know will lift your spirits no matter what?”
As noted above, the Two T’s In A Pod podcast host revealed her melanoma diagnosis last Tuesday by showing a photo of her back scars where melanoma had been found and advocating for ritual doctor visits. “Moral of this story: if a doctor says, ‘come in every 3 months’ please go in every 3 months,” she wrote. “I so badly wanted to blow this off. ‘What could happen in 3 months?’ I thought. Apparently a lot. I continue to share this journey because I was a 90s teen, putting baby oil and iodine on my skin to tan it. Never wearing sunscreen or getting my moles checked until I was 40 years old. This has been such a wakeup call for me, and I hope to all of you, to love and protect the skin you’re in.”
She previously had a concerning spot on her back removed in March. “This is a reminder to please go get your yearly skin checks,” she said at the time alongside a photo of her back scar, the mole that was removed, and the graphic incision on her back from the removal. “I had been avoiding mine bc of my own anxiety for a very long time but when @kylerichards18 saw my back and it had changed colors again, she immediately took me to the doc who within minutes said it looks like melanoma and did a big removal.”
“I am doing my best to stay present and positive as I head to [film] today,” she continued. “Grateful that I am busy to keep my mind from racing as I await the results. I find strength in being honest with you all and hope this helps others. Please let this be a reminder to take action on your own skin.”