Teddi Mellencamp has said she is finally seeing “real change” in her hair growth following months of treatment for stage 4 cancer.
Teddi Mellencamp has said she is finally seeing ‘real change’ in her hair growth following months of treatment for stage 4 cancer
The 43-year-old reality television personality and former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member, who turns 44 on 1 July, revealed earlier this year that her melanoma had progressed to stage 4, having metastasised to both her brain and lungs and has since undergone surgery, radiation and immunotherapy as part of her treatment.
She has now told fans in an update on her condition on her Instagram account: “It’s amazing what my body can do.”
Teddi shared a set of before-and-after images on Instagram showing visible hair regrowth over a month-long period.
“I noticed a real change in my hair regrowth,” she wrote, adding: “Cancer comes with so many emotions: anger, sadness, loneliness.
“And while I feel grateful that immunotherapy is saving my life, I feel like I live in a fog, and I can’t help but beat myself up on all of the ways I am falling short. I just desperately want to be back to my usual self.”
The update follows months of documentation of her health battle on social media, during which she has also addressed the physical side effects of her treatment.
“During radiation I lost big patches of hair; those spots aren’t growing hair yet. This is what it looks like when the other hair grows out,” she wrote.
“So I shave these parts that grow every couple of weeks. I can’t do it every day.”
Teddi spoke further about her diagnosis during an episode of Two T’s in a Pod, the podcast she co-hosts with fellow Real Housewives alum Tamra Judge, 56.
“I had gotten pretty nervous because I started getting headaches again,” she said.
Teddi added: “So I was like, ‘Oh, no, that was the sign of this happening in the first place. I hope it means that the tumors aren’t getting bigger again.’”
Following an MRI, she said her doctors delivered encouraging news, adding: “The tumors have not grown at all, if anything they’re shrinking … but I am still stage 4 cancer.
“It’s stage 4 until it’s gone, until I’m in remission.”
Teddi also said the plan is to remain on immunotherapy for two years, adding: “Hopefully by the end of that I’ll be in remission.”
