Originally appeared on E! Online
Teddi Mellencamp is on the mend.
The "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" alum shared that she underwent another surgery while battling melanoma. After her five-week immunotherapy program was unsuccessful, Mellencamp went through wide excision for melanoma and soft tissue defect reconstruction with adjacent tissue rearrangement.
"Basically they cut out the area of my shoulder and replaced it with a flap of skin from below on my back," she shared on Instagram Dec. 27. "But the pain and discomfort are all worth it."
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
Noting the operation went well, the 42-year-old continued, "The outpouring of love and prayers in the comments and DMs has left me speechless (which is tough). I wish I could respond to everyone but please know I am forever grateful."
She ended with a plea to fans to get their skin checked for cancer, adding, "I promise you do not want to go through this."
Entertainment News
Mellencamp shared her diagnosis with stage two melanoma in October 2022 after doctors found an abnormal spot. Later that month, she had melanomas and her lymph nodes removed in surgery.
However, doctors continued to identify cancerous spots. Three months ago, she shared that doctors biopsied yet another patch and it also came back as melanoma.
"I have been debating whether I should even publicly talk about this or not but then I remember how every time I post about skin cancer someone else is reminded to get checked," she wrote on Instagram in September. "I can't even remember if this is the 12th or 13th one."
Mellencamp then began her immunotherapy treatment, which aims to help the immune system fight cancerous cells. But after a month, she was disappointed with the results.
"Just had a big old cry," the reality star shared on her Instagram Story Dec. 18. "Got the call from my doctor that the immunotherapy did not work, was not successful."
At the time, John Mellencamp's daughter noted one of her options was getting another wide excision surgery on Dec. 26 with a plastic surgeon.
"It's such a big area," she shared, "and then just keep getting my checks every three months."
