A Timeline of Teddi Mellencamp’s Cancer Journey — and How Her Melanoma May Have Spread to Her Brain

Over the years, Teddi Mellencamp has been transparent about her battle with skin cancer after having more than 17 different spots of melanoma removed.

Now, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, 43, revealed that she has been diagnosed with “multiple” brain tumors and will undergo surgery to remove some of them before beginning radiation.

Although Mellencamp has not shared whether her brain tumors are a result of her past melanoma spots, melanoma skin cancer has a rapid growth rate and can be life-threatening.

According to the National Institute of Health, up to 60% of patients with advanced melanoma develop brain metastases during the course of their disease, and “the presence of brain metastases significantly worsens a patient’s prognosis.” This occurs when cancer cells migrate through the blood-brain barrier.

Additionally, experts noted that when melanoma spreads to the brain, there is often more than one lesion at a time.

As Mellencamp continues to share updates on her health, here’s a complete timeline of the reality star’s cancer journey so far.

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March 2022: Teddi Mellencamp Has a Mole Removed

In an Instagram post on March 17, 2022, Mellencamp urged her followers to get “yearly skin checks” after a doctor removed a mole from her back. She said she was avoiding her checkups due to anxiety until her RHOBH costar Kyle Richards noticed a mole on her back had changed colors and made her schedule an appointment.

“Within minutes,” she recalled, the doctor said, “it looks like melanoma” and he
“did a big removal.”

October 2022: Teddi Mellencamp Diagnosed with Stage 2 Melanoma

While sharing a photo of her bandage back on Instagram, Mellencamp revealed on October 11, 2022 that she was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma. During a 3-month skin checkup, doctors discovered “another abnormal spot” near her last one and decided to do a biopsy, which revealed the skin cancer.

“This has been such a wakeup call for me, and I hope to all of you, to love and protect the skin you’re in,” she wrote at the time.

Days later, Mellencamp revealed that her doctors discovered several more cancerous moles.

“Due to so many melanomas in one area they are worried to cut in there and try to remove [them] because they aren’t sure what they would be cutting into,” she wrote on October 18, 2022, sharing that her new treatment plan involved a positron emission tomography (PET) scan and seeing a hematology specialist and surgical oncologist.

In a follow-up post, Mellencamp said she would require wide excision surgery removal and nodal mapping to see if the cancer spread to her lymph nodes.

December 2022: Teddi Mellencamp Reveals She’s Cancer-Free After Having 11 Melanomas Removed

On Dec. 7, 2022, the reality star shared a photo on Instagram showing off several scars on her back. She proudly revealed that she’s cancer-free after having her melanoma spots surgically removed.

“Pathology is back— the surgeries were successful and the margins are clear,” she wrote. “I also got genetic testing results and there are no mutations we need to worry about. And I just had a healthy mammogram (please don’t forgo these either, ladies). So I say peace out to 11 melanomas and 3 lymph nodes— I gladly hardly knew ya— and hello to a new sense of peace.”

Mellencamp added, “It’s been eye-opening how quickly things can change and it’s a lesson I will never forget, nor quit speaking up about. I want nothing more than for all of you to be proactive so you do not have to experience this. Let my scars be your inspiration to get preventative care.”

January 2023:  Teddi Mellencamp Learns She Has 3 More Spots

Despite having numerous melanoma spots surgically removed and being declared cancer-free, Mellencamp developed three new spots just a month later.

“I went in for my 4-6 week checkup and there were three new spots my doctors felt needed to be biopsied,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’m getting a lot of questions about the spots being white. I have had both white and brown melanomas; this is why I continue to share to get checked no matter what.”

The Two T’s in a Pod co-host  said she was also having a bump on her neck biopsied after an ultrasound came back irregular, noting that she was trying her best to stay positive about her health setbacks.

September 2023: Teddi Mellencamp Reveals She’s Having Surgery to Remove Another Melanoma

Alongside a teary-eyed selfie, Mellencamp revealed that yet another melanoma was discovered on her back. She said she was debating sharing the news publicly, but remembered that in the past, it served as a reminder to others to get checked for skin cancer.

“I found out late yesterday afternoon that the most recent spot biopsied is another melanoma. I can’t even remember if this is the 12th or 13th one,” she wrote. “I am so grateful for my 3-month checkup because we caught this one early. This means another surgery next week and additional biopsies.”

The following month, Mellencamp started using an immunotherapy cream as a part of her treatment plan. However, in December 2023, she shared a disappointing update that the treatment was unsuccessful.

On Dec. 26, she underwent another wide excision surgery to remove the melanomas, which “went well.”

April 2024 – December 2024: Teddi Mellencamp Undergoes Surgery to Remove Her 15th and 16th Melanomas

On April 10, 2024, the RHOBH alum posted on her Instagram Stories that for the “15th time” she was going to have a melanoma spot surgically removed, this time from her arm.

Mellencamp also shared in September 2024 that she had her 16th melanoma removed.

In December, the TV personality said that after undergoing 20 surgeries and having 17 melanomas removed, she was in tears of relief after learning that she didn’t need to undergo another biopsy for the first time in two years.

“The anxiety always takes over; the thought of another biopsy, another surgery, another addition to the scar on my back,” she said. “And I always end up crying. But today the tears were those of joy. Because for the first time, there wasn’t anything abnormal, nothing that needed an extra look. And I am grateful.”

February 2025: Teddi Mellencamp Is Hospitalized and Diagnosed with Multiple Brain Tumors

On Feb 12, Mellencamp revealed that after weeks of suffering from “severe and debilitating headaches,” she was hospitalized.

“After a CT scan and MRI, doctors found multiple tumors on my brain, which they believe have been growing for at least 6 months,” she shared.

Mellencamp said two of her tumors will be surgically removed — sharing a video while getting her head shaved — and the remaining tumors will be treated with radiation at a later date.

“I am blessed to be surrounded by my children, family, friends, doctors, nurses and surgeons who are doing everything possible to get me back into better health,” she said.