Teddi Mellencamp: Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star reveals four new brain tumours discovered

The 43-year-old former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, who has been battling stage 2 melanoma since October 2022, shared the update during an interview with UsWeekly. “I’m fighting for my life, but also for my family’s life and all the people I love,” she said.

The reality TV star, who is mother to Slate, 12, Cruz, 10, and Dove, 5, and stepmother to 16-year-old Isabella, has undergone numerous surgeries and treatments since her diagnosis. In February, she had surgery to remove four previously undetected brain tumours. In March, she revealed that five more tumours had been found, three in her brain and two in her lungs.

The latest MRI, conducted as an emergency scan, revealed four additional tumours in her brain. Despite the difficult news, Mellencamp remains committed to being honest with her children, telling UsWeekly: “They all know that I’m fighting the hardest I possibly can, but I haven’t said (my usual reassurance) because I don’t want to lie to them. And I don’t know.”

In addition to radiation and immunotherapy treatments, Mellencamp is managing fatigue and other side effects, but says she tries to keep her sense of humour. “I thought I was going to feel like how I felt after my neck lift,” she joked. “My reaction is always a headache, and I found out that’s good news because it means that the immunotherapy or the radiation is killing your cancer.”

She added that her son Cruz helped lift her spirits about her new pixie haircut after surgery. “Ugh, I’m so over it already,” she said, “But Cruz made it a little better because he said, ‘Mom, we can get all the same haircuts.’”

Mellencamp said she’s focused on staying active and listening to her body, explaining that movement helps her emotional wellbeing. “When I do too much laying (around), I get pretty sad. On the days I’m feeling low, I can get really emotional, and if I’m open with the people in my life, then I have an easier time resting. When I try to pretend I’m OK and resting, it’s hard for me.”

Last month, Mellencamp shared with her followers that she had been given the green light to get back on a horse, something she had long been looking forward to.

“I am feeling great and got approval from my doctors to ride today. This makes my heart and soul happy,” she wrote on Instagram. “If I see you at the show today and you have the urge to try to tell me not to I kindly ask you refrain. I unknowingly rode with huge tumors in my brain for 6 months and those big ones are gone now.”

She also posted a video of herself riding, writing: “17 days in hospital. First ride (in) 4 weeks. I am so blessed. Life is good.” However, she acknowledged that her fight was ‘not over’.