Teddi Mellencamp experienced “really bad” postpartum anxiety following the birth of her second child.
“When I had it, I didn’t tell anyone. And I felt so much worse because I was trying to give the illusion that I was great. But then inside, I was really struggling, and it made me kind of sabotage some of my relationships in my life because I was just so unhappy but not knowing why … just trying to be everything to everybody when I couldn’t be,” the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum tells Pvnew in an exclusive interview.
“So with this,” she says of her skin cancer journey, “I learned I have to be really transparent with the people in my life.”
Mellencamp, 42, was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma in October 2022 after her friend and former co-star Kyle Richards noticed some spots on her upper back that didn’t “look good.”
Richards immediately “texted her dermatologist” and made sure Mellencamp was seen that same day. The doctor ended up removing one particular spot and told the accountability coach to come back in three months, at which time they found “multiple other spots.”
“That’s when they switched me from just a dermatologist to then an oncologist,” Mellencamp shares.
From the very beginning, the former Bravolebrity has been brutally honest with her millions of social media followers about her various appointments, treatments, procedures and surgeries, always emphasizing the importance of getting one’s skin checked.
Though her children are young — daughter Slate is 11, son Cruz is 9, daughter Dove is 4 and stepdaughter Isabella is 15 — Mellencamp tells us she’s been just as “vulnerable” and “upfront” with them about both her physical and mental health.
“I will tell them if I’m struggling. Like, today, for example, isn’t my best day. I was late to this interview, and I am never late,” she says, explaining that she “couldn’t really sleep,” “was up really early” and then “had to rush” to make breakfast and “get the kids to school” — all before she “started podcasting.”
“So right when I woke up the kids, I said to them, ‘Hey, guys, just letting you know, Mommy’s a little stressed out today. It has nothing to do with you. I just want you to know so that if I’m a little on edge, please don’t take it personally. I just have to get 75 things done before I have to get to work at 8 a.m. And I love you so much, and I’m so proud of you. And hopefully by this afternoon, I won’t be Grumpy Mommy.'”
The “Two Ts in a Pod” co-host tells us her approach has given her children not only “peace” but also a safe space to share their own feelings with her.
But she’s still a work in progress, as she sometimes feels “this weird guilt” whenever her husband, Edwin Arroyave, is busy working and maintaining the household while Mellencamp needs to “rest and heal” — like after an operation.
The day after Christmas, she underwent a “wide excision,” during which a large portion of the skin on her right shoulder was removed and replaced with skin from her lower back.
Mellencamp says she spent the holiday with her entire family and did not shy away from getting emotional with them.
“I looked at everybody, and I started crying, and I just said, ‘I love you guys. I’m really scared about tomorrow, but I love you so much, and I care about you guys all so much. And you made my Christmas. The fact that everybody came here to be with me and celebrate, and I could be in my pajamas and do Christmas like that, meant so much to me. And just know that you guys have each other,'” she tells us.
“I mean, granted, then I went to my husband and said, ‘Listen, if I don’t make it, you better pick a good next wife,'” she adds, making sure to note that she was quite serious. “‘Your picker better not be off because you need to find a good mother for our kids.'”
Mellencamp is “grateful” Arroyave, 46, hasn’t had “to make that decision,” as she revealed last week that her margins are clear.
“There’s a couple atypical spots, but we just need to keep an eye on them and keep getting checks every three months,” she tells us. “But this is, like, the first time I’ve gotten a [clean bill of health].”
