Just two months after sharing that her melanoma had spread, Teddi Mellencamp is opening up about her prognosis. During an appearance on Nightline that first aired on Thursday, the former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star said that her doctor has given her a “50/50 chance” of surviving her cancer, which has now progressed to stage 4. She says this marks the first time in her battle that she’s felt “really scared” about what the future might hold.
During her conversation with Deborah Roberts on the show, Teddi shared that her doctor gave her the odds as she’s undergoing immunotherapy, though the fact that this course of treatment is still new may make those odds appear a bit different than they will be with more research.
“I learned this isn’t the best question to ask if you’re doing immunotherapy, because immunotherapy has only been around 10 years,” she said.
Despite the scary reality she’s facing, though, Teddi is trying to stay positive, which hasn’t been easy for her.
“I really like to have control, and this is completely out of my control,” she said. “And for the first time, I’m really scared.”
Teddi continued, “Sometimes I feel really strong and beautiful and like I can do anything, and sometimes I feel like this might be the lowest and the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
In February, Teddi took to Instagram to reveal that after she’d been experiencing “severe and debilitating headaches” that required her to be hospitalized, doctors discovered “multiple tumors” on her brain. Days later, she shared another update after surgery.
“I have multiple tumors in my brain that weren’t able to be removed via surgery,” she wrote. “I also have 2 tumors in my lungs. These are all metastases of my melanoma. The doctors are hopeful that immunotherapy will effectively treat them.”
Earlier this month, Teddi told Us Weekly that she no longer tells her kids that “moms always come back” when she leaves. She’s mom to Slate, 12, Cruz, 10, and Dove, 5.
“I have not said that line to them since I’ve been back [from the hospital]. They all know that I’m fighting the hardest I possibly can, but I haven’t said [it] because I don’t want to lie to them. And I don’t know,” she admitted.
