Teddi Mellencamp has multiple brain tumors, reveals buzzed hair pre-surgery
Teddi Mellencamp has revealed she is undergoing surgery to remove two brain tumors.
The former “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star, 43, shared the shocking news in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
“For the last several weeks I’ve been dealing with severe and debilitating headaches. Yesterday the pain was unbearable and required hospitalization,” wrote Mellencamp, who is the daughter of singer-songwriter John Mellencamp, 73.
“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 added. “Two of the tumors will be surgically removed today-The remaining smaller tumors will be dealt with via radiation at a later date.”
The wellness coach and trainer continued, “I am blessed to be surrounded by my children, family, friends, doctors, nurses and surgeons who are doing everything possible to get me back into better health.”
Teddi concluded her post: “Thank you to everybody who has reached out, and to everyone who has supported me along this journey.”
In an photo posted to her Instagram story just hours before, Mellencamp lays in a hospital bed with her eyes closed and censors on her forehead.
“Counting down the minutes until my babies get here,” she wrote in a caption on the story.
Referring to her father, John, the “Real Housewives” vet said, “As my dad said this am, god only gives hard stuff to those of us who can handle it. It’s a hard day but I have faith and amazing surgeons and know everything will be ok. .”
After announcing her diagnosis and impending surgery, Teddi also posted a video on her Instagram showing her getting her hair shorn off and buzzed in preparation for surgery.
“I didn’t have this look on my bucket list,” she said, holding her phone and looking into the camera as her friend Marisela Arechiga gave her a buzz cut.
Arechiga told her, “Love you babe. You got this.”
“Might be your best look yet,” another person said in the video, which appeared to be filmed in the bathroom of Teddi’s hospital room.
The RHOH alum added a sticker of Britney Spears and captioned the video, “All I need now is an umbrella,” referring to Spears’ shaving her head in 2007 and later attacking a paparazzo’s car with an umbrella.
In addition to her brain tumors, Mellencamp has battled skin cancer over the years.
“It’s #WorldCancerDay so I’d like to remind you to get your skin checks scheduled,” she wrote alongside a photo of a massive scar on her back posted to her Instagram on Feb. 4.
She added, “Who’s making their appointment today?”
Mellencamp has previously chronicled her cancer battle on social media. She was told in 2022 that she had stage 2 melanoma after being previously diagnosed with the disease, and in 2023 was given her 13th melanoma diagnosis. But the following year, she revealed that she did not need to undergo any further biopsies. At the time she had undergone enough surgeries to have 17 cancerous growths removed.
