“Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum Teddi Mellencamp has been an open book when it comes to her battle with stage 4 cancer.
During a recent interview, Mellencamp recalled that she had been experiencing debilitating headaches for months before doctors found several tumors in her brain, but one specific symptom prompted her to seek the medical attention that led to the discovery of the tumors.
“That day I couldn’t see,” Teddi, 43, told “Nightline” Thursday. “I could barely get down the stairs.”
At the time, her estranged husband, Edwin Arroyave, rushed her to the hospital, where doctors discovered that her melanoma had spread.
In February, doctors removed four “plum-sized tumors” from her brain. However, during the procedure, medical professionals detected two additional tumors in her lungs. Mellencamp has candidly shared her cancer journey with her fans on social media.
In March, she detailed what doctors discovered during her treatment.
“Update from my scans today: I have multiple tumors in my brain that weren’t able to be removed via surgery,” she posted on Instagram. “I also have 2 tumors in my lung. These are all metastases of my melanoma.”
She added that doctors are “hopeful that immunotherapy and radiation will effectively treat them.”
Her recent diagnosis comes during her yearslong battle with skin cancer. In September, she shared that she underwent surgery for her 16th melanoma removal.
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Meanwhile, the reality star has leaned on her family more than ever during this tumultuous time, including her famous father, John Mellencamp.
While Teddi attempts to find humor in her devastating diagnosis, her father has a more straightforward approach to her battle with cancer.
She explained on “Nightline” that she called him after she shaved her head due to her cancer treatments.
“Dad, I’m bald today,” Teddi exclaimed.
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He replied, “Well, it could be worse.”
After Teddi asked, “How?!”, John responded with, “You could be dead.”
Although she laughed off her dad’s blunt answer, she previously shared that she has had difficult conversations with him about her cancer battle — including finalizing burial plans.
“Yesterday, my dad calls me 11 times in a row. Finally, I answer, I’m like, ‘I’m in the bath. Let me live a little,’” Teddi explained on her podcast “Two Ts in a Pod,” which she hosts with fellow “Real Housewives” star Tamra Judge.
“He goes, ‘I just want to make sure you’re going to be in our group family mausoleum.'”
She went on to say that she instantly thought of her three children, Slate, 12; Cruz, 10; and Dove, 5, and where they factor into the family mausoleum in Indiana.
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“He’s like, ‘Well, there’s going to be the top five and then we’re gonna have little areas around it, and then that’s where everyone’s going to get buried,’” she continued. “He goes, ‘You’re doing your will right now, so you may as well put it in there.’”
In the end, she said, “I think I agreed to be in the mausoleum,” and joked that someone she met not too long ago inspired her to get “hot girls never die” put on her tombstone.
Fox News Digital’s Lori Bashian contributed to this report.
