Teddi Mellencamp Recalls Sobbing, Extreme Pain Before Brain Tumor Diagnosis


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A month after sharing her brain tumor diagnosis, Teddi Mellencamp is reflecting on the events leading up to the emotional moment.

During the March 13 episode of iHeartRadio’s Two Ts In A Pod, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, 43, opened up about the pain she was experiencing before her diagnosis. “I can say I’ve had some of my darkest, saddest days since [February] 12th when this happened,” she told co-host Tamra Judge. 

“I was at a horse show. I remember going to my friend Nicole like, ‘I have the worst migraine I’ve ever had in my entire life.’ I remember not being able to remember how to say certain words,” she recalled. “I started shaking really bad and I didn’t know where I was.”

Mellencamp said she would take migraine medication but her symptoms continued for days and worsened. 

“I remember being in such extreme pain. I could barely walk. I couldn’t see,” she explained. “I didn’t wanna do anything.”

Teddi Mellencamp.

Teddi Mellencamp/Instagram


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“I honestly didn’t know what to do because everything in my life is upside down,” the reality star said. “So I called my friend Val, and I started sobbing to her. I’m like, ‘I need you to take me to the hospital right now. I think I’m dying. I can’t see. I can’t walk. I can’t even get out of bed.’” 

Mellencamp relied on her husband of 13 years Edwin Arroyave to take her to the hospital (they were in the process of divorcing). At the hospital, they learned she had over seven tumors” that had been growing for the past six months. 

Judge tearfully recalled the moment she received a text message from Mellencamp about her diagnosis.

“You said to me, ‘You all thought I was mental, but actually I’m on my deathbed.’” Judge said before Mellecamp added, “I remember feeling like this is actually it.”

Mellencamp underwent a craniotomy with a tumor resection, where four tumors were removed from her brain. The remaining tumors will be treated with immunotherapy and radiation moving forward.

Teddi Mellencamp.

Teddi Mellencamp/Instagram


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The reality star admitted that being in the hospital was extremely difficult, but the “hardest part” was being left in the dark by her loved ones.

“The hardest part is that nobody wanted to tell me what was really happening because they were scared,” she explained before bursting into tears. “So I didn’t know what was happening. I thought I was fine. I thought I could go home the next day. I really didn’t understand anything.”

Despite the health battle ahead, Mellencamp said she’s “feeling really positive.” She said she’ll start radiation on March 17 and will also undergo immunotherapy for one day every three weeks.

Noting that her brain tumors are a result of her past melanomas spreading, Mellencamp said she regrets not doing better at listening to her body. She admitted that her headaches were present for six months before seeking medical attention.

“I wish the second that I felt those headaches, I wish the second that I started not feeling like myself I would have gone to the doctor and gotten checked,” she said. 


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