Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave Faces Melanoma Head-On With ”Strength”

Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave has been fighting a hard battle against melanoma (skin cancer) since she was diagnosed with it in 2022. She has been sharing her journey with utter transparency through Instagram posts.

She declared her word of the year “strength” instead of “cope,” showing her fighting spirit and urging her audience to keep on fighting instead of just coping.

The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star has been so transparent, with her disease and treatment along with taking part in campaigns and programs that raise awareness. 

The Initial Diagnosis

The 42-year-old television personality shared in an Instagram post in October 2022 that she was diagnosed with stage two melanoma while she was completing her routine spot checkup, three months after her previous checkup. 

She expressed her astonishment and surprise at finding out the level of growth and change happening to our bodies within a matter of merely three months’ worth of time. She added her lack of interest in going to the checkup once every three months.

She believes this is a wake-up call for those thoughts of skipping spot tests for melanoma, among other cancer tests, as she didn’t care for her skin when she was a teenager like most people. 

She reminisced about using baby oil and iodine on her skin to get a fake tan and never using sunscreen to protect skin. Urging her audience to never miss a test, as a lot could happen in those three months. 

Later, she gave an update on her condition with a picture of her back, where a few spots were removed due to suspicion, and she was given a PET scan for further diagnosis, which resulted in the finding that she is predisposed to melanoma cancer. 

The Surgical Scars and The Return of Malady

She shared her surgical scars with an Instagram post in December 2022, in which she announced the good news that she was finally cured as the surgery was a success and there were no more spots to worry about.

Teddi revealed that, through surgery, about 11 melanomas and three lymph nodes were removed from her body. They were tested for any sign of mutation, and there were none, to the astonishment of doctors, who declared her to be cured but warned her to keep on checking as there was a high chance for the disease to return even stronger.

Based on the doctor’s instructions, she visited for testing once every four to six weeks. Just a month into her checkups, slight irregularities were noticed, which included three new spots that required a biopsy for further understanding and a bump on her neck that showed irregularities. 

She shared that her mental situation was not that good due to the ups and downs of her disease, but she was trying to stay calm and see things in a positive light.

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Later on, she shared in December 2023 that one of the spots sent for a biopsy was confirmed to have melanoma. She expressed her disappointment by saying that she doesn’t remember whether it was a 12th or 13th melanoma spot.

Teddi believed that she was going through a hard phase but couldn’t sit and cry about it as she had work to do and children to take care of. 

Her latest posts in her fighting journey consisted of a post in which she revealed that immunotherapy was getting less and less effective. Eventually, it stopped working and forced doctors to present her with alternate options, and she chose surgery to remove a large surrounding portion of the disease-ridden area. 

She showcased her scar a few days after the surgery with a funny comment an audience member had sent her, which made her laugh.

Melanoma Awareness and Fighting Spirit

Teddi worked with the Melanoma Foundation to create awareness and encourage melanoma-ridden people to show their scars instead of hiding them to fit in. She posed naked, showing off her scars, for the campaign poster. Recently, model Paulina Porizkova had also shared pics of scars from her hip replacement surgery

After all the ups and downs in her treatment, she believes her fighting spirit has gotten stronger, and in January 2024, she declared that she will be using the word “strength” as her word of the year to signify a year of strength and poise.