Teddi Mellencamp pictured alongside an image of her skin cancer surgery scar.Photo:Steve Granitz/FilmMagic; Teddi Mellencamp/Instagram
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic; Teddi Mellencamp/Instagram
Teddi Mellencampis using her own health journey to create awareness for World Cancer Day.
On Tuesday, Feb. 4, theReal Housewives of Beverly Hillsalum, 43, re-posted a graphic photo of her cancer surgery scar onInstagramafter spending years removing 17 differentspots of melanoma.
“It’s #WorldCancerDay so I’d like to remind you to get your skin checks scheduled,” Mellencamp captioned the post.
The reality star also shared a clip from her recent appearance onThe Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast, in which she opened up about her skin cancer diagnosis.
“If this is your first time seeing this, I recently shared my full melanoma journey on @tscpodcast. Give it a listen when you have a chance,” she added in the caption.
“If it’s not your first time, I hope it’s a good reminder ❤️,” Mellencamp continued, asking: “Who’s making their appointment today?” and adding the hashtags #melanomaawareness #curemelanoma.
In the podcast clip, Mellencamp explained that she’d had a “ginormous patch” on the back of her shoulder since she was born and then started getting marks on her back. They almost looked like sun spots … I didn’t take it seriously, plus I didn’t know that skin cancer was a big deal," she said.
AsVeryWell Healthexplains, melanoma is “not as common as other forms of skin cancer, [but] it is the most dangerous. It can spread quickly to other organs if not detected early enough.”
Teddi Mellencamp.Teddi Mellencamp/instagram
Teddi Mellencamp/instagram
Mellencamp hasdocumented her cancer journeyon social media, sharing the same graphicphoto of her surgery scarin December 2023. At the time, she’d been diagnosed with her 13th melanoma after being toldshe had stage 2 melanomain 2022 following a previous diagnosis.
Around a year later in December 2024, Mellencamp shared some good news after having 17 of the cancerous growths removed, telling fans in anInstagramvideo that she did not need to undergo another biopsy after receiving several skin checks over the past two years.
Teddi Mellencamp shows fans the first mole she had removed on her back.Teddi Mellencamp/Instagram
Teddi Mellencamp/Instagram
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“I just got done having a little cry, but it’s a good one,” she said in the Dec. 16 video, adding, “It’s the first time, and over two years, I’ve gone in for my three-month check and not had to have a biopsy because I have another cancer spot.”
Mellencamp said that she and her doctor looked at each other and said, “‘What?’ ”
“Oh my gosh, such a good feeling,” she said before noting she would go back in March for another 3-month skin check.
“This should be a reminder to all of you guys, please, please, book your skin checks, book your mammograms, book your OBGYN appointments, book your eye doctor appointments,” she concluded in the clip.
source: people.com