Teddi Mellencamp is sharing good news amid years of removing 17 different spots of melanoma.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, 43, revealed in a Dec. 16 Instagram video that she does not need to undergo another biopsy after receiving several skin checks over the past two years. Mellencamp was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma in 2022 and has since had 17 of the cancerous growths removed.
“I just got done having a little cry, but it’s a good one,” the TV personality began the video. “It’s the first time, and over two years, I’ve gone in for my three-month check and not had to have a biopsy because I have another cancer spot.”
Mellencamp said that she and her doctor looked at each other and said, “‘What?’ ”
“Oh my gosh, such a good feeling,” she said before noting she would go back in March for another 3-month skin check.
“This should be a reminder to all of you guys, please, please, book your skin checks, book your mammograms, book your OBGYN appointments, book your eye doctor appointments,” she concluded the video.
As VeryWell Health explains, melanoma is “not as common as other forms of skin cancer, [but] it is the most dangerous. It can spread quickly to other organs if not detected early enough.”
When it’s found early, “surgery is the recommended treatment.” Immunotherapy is another treatment for that type of skin cancer, but as Mellencamp shared in December 2023, “Immunotherapy did not work, it was not successful.”
Mellencamp also confessed in her post’s caption that it is “never easy” when she goes to the doctor for her continual three-month skin checks.
“The anxiety always takes over; the thought of another biopsy, another surgery, another addition to the scar on my back,” she said. “And I always end up crying. But today the tears were those of joy. Because for the first time, there wasn’t anything abnormal, nothing that needed an extra look. And I am grateful.”
The mother of three remarked how grateful she is to her doctors, nurses, family, friends, and followers for their “continual support.”
“As long as you’re here, I have a reason to keep advocating for myself and for others,” she wrote.
The Two T’s in a Pod co-host also added a photo of her healed scars. “Scar update. What incredible doctors and nurses I have had throughout these surgeries. Over 1000 stiches later. Get your skin checked please.”
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Mellencamp’s good news follows her July announcement that she had to undergo yet another procedure and have “2 more [spots] removed.”
Mellencamp — who had a melanoma spot surgically removed for the 15th time in April — had shared that she was nervous before going in for the skin check that ultimately diagnosed this latest melanoma.
She said at the time that she was grateful that they caught these “within 90 days and [in] earlier stages.”
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