Former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Teddi Mellencamp became emotional talking about her children as she battles stage IV cancer.
Teddi, 43, shares three children, Slate, 12, Cruz, 10, and Dove, 5, with her estranged husband, Edwin Arroyave, and is stepmom to Edwin’s daughter Bella, 15. She explained that, at times, she couldn’t help but think about the worst case scenario.
“I’m like, ‘I don’t think that you understand like the debilitating pain that I feel some days thinking about the fact that like my kids,’” the former reality star said before taking a breath to hold back tears during an interview with Entertainment Tonight on Friday, April 18. “My kids are young. I mean, I remember one day in the hospital, I was like, ‘I feel like today might be Dove’s birthday,’ and Edwin’s like, ‘It is. It’s her party today that you planned.’”
She continued, “And I was like, ‘Can they please just let me out for today?’ And he’s like, ‘You realize you have not only gone through massive brain surgery, but you have a hole in your head.’ And I’m like, ‘I do?’”
Teddi added that she felt like it was hard for Edwin, 37, to understand what she was going through. However, she said that his response regarding Dove’s birthday was perfect when he told her they would simply “throw another one.”
“But, like, my heart broke because I wonder, ‘Will she remember that I wasn’t there?’” Teddi shared while wiping away tears.
The Bravo alum also revealed that doctors believe that her brain tumors were there for “probably six months to a year” before they were discovered. Although she began suffering from severe headaches, she chalked it up to the amount of time she sat in front of a screen due to her podcast hosting duties.
“I podcast five, six times a week, so you’re always staring … We stare at a screen, so when I started getting the headaches at first I thought, ‘Maybe it’s from looking at the screen,’” Teddi said. “But it had gotten to the point where I couldn’t see. There was no way I could drive. It was bad.”
Teddi announced in February that she was preparing to undergo surgery after doctors found multiple tumors in her brain.
“For the last several weeks I’ve been dealing with severe and debilitating headaches. Yesterday the pain was unbearable and required hospitalization. After a CT scan and MRI, doctors found multiple tumors on my brain, which they believe have been growing for at least 6 months,” Teddi wrote via Instagram on February 12. “Two of the tumors will be surgically removed today – The remaining smaller tumors will be dealt with via radiation at a later date.”
She remained in the hospital for 16 days before she was allowed to come home, but just two days later, Teddi returned to receive some scans and physicians discovered more tumors in her brain and lungs.
On April 2, the podcast host confirmed that she had stage IV cancer.
“I woke up to so many kind messages,” she said in an Instagram Stories video at the time. “I just want to say thank you guys so much. So many messages about how strong I am. And I gotta tell you, some days I feel really really strong and some days I feel really really sad and alone. And I think that’s a normal part of what any of us are going through, and that’s okay. Stage 4 cancer can be scary.”
However, Teddi revealed some good news the following day when she rang the bell at the hospital, signaling she had finished her last round of radiation.
