Going through cancer treatment has got to be hard enough without having to worry about how your young children are handling it all. That’s the dilemma facing Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Teddi Mellencamp as she battles stage 4 metastatic melanoma.
“I think the girls are OK, because they just are so chatty. They ask everything,” Teddi told Extra on April 17. “Cruz, he is a little bit confused, because he’s not asking questions.” Teddi shares daughters Slate (12) and Dove (4), as well as son Cruz (10), with estranged husband Edwin Arroyave.
“The other day I was taking a sip of something and he goes, ‘Can I have a sip?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, sure,'” she shared. “And he goes, ‘Never mind, actually you’re contagious.’ I’m like, ‘I’m actually not contagious, bud. He’ll come in in the middle of the night and check that I’m breathing.”
Teddi Mellencamp says children have been through “debilitating pain”
First diagnosed with melanoma in 2022, the cancer has since metastasized to her brain and lungs. After suffering excruciating headaches in February 2025, Teddi went to the emergency room, where doctors discovered four “plum-sized tumors” in her brain. During the procedure to remove the brain tumors, they also discovered more tumors in her lungs.
Teddi’s been undergoing a treatment that’s only been around since 2011: immunotherapy, which uses the body’s own immune system to attack cancer cells. Studies show that immunotherapy can significantly improve life expectancy for some cancer patients. Through it all, she’s tried to strike a balance between being honest with her children without overly alarming them.
“Today is a good day,” she told Billy. “What I’ve learned through all of this is some days, I’m gonna feel great. Some days, I’m not. Everybody’s journey’s different.”
Despite filing for divorce from Edwin in November 2024, Teddi confirmed that the divorce is “on hold” in favor of fighting one battle at a time. “We’re not together,” she explained. “It’s called nesting, but most of the time now since I’ve had these surgeries, he’ll stay at the house, and then we kind of rotate around. But we’re separate bedroom-ing.”
“He’s a good guy,” she added. “We’re having a friendship, which is what we liked about each other in the first place. We are making each other laugh and all of those types of things so I think it’s been really nice. We call it the divorce chronicles, where we just tease each other.”
Teddi Mellencamp wants to raise cancer awareness amid her own battle with metastatic melanoma
While doctors have given her about a “50/50” chance of survival, Teddi wants to raise cancer awareness. She’s determined to use her experience to help others.
“What we have to remember is that my cancer was skin cancer,” she said. “The last time we spoke here, I had skin cancer—melanoma—on my back. This metastasized, which is still a form of melanoma, but into my brain, into my lungs. “I had four plum-sized melanomas in my brain, and I hadn’t gotten a CAT scan. But I had gone and gotten my skin checked every three months.”
When she spoke to Extra, she told Billy about an important appointment coming up soon. “Wednesday, I go in and get my next CAT scan, where they’ll find out if these recent tumors are getting smaller,” she continued. “Then I also get my third round of immunotherapy. I always thought radiation was the one that was going to kick my butt, but it’s been immunotherapy.”
