Teddi Mellencamp gave her followers a “reality check” by posting a series of brutal images snapped throughout her skin cancer journey ahead of her 16th operation.
In one Instagram photo shared Tuesday, the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum showed a massive incision site on her back before it healed in a Z-shaped scar. In another photo that came with a “trigger warning,” Mellencamp, 43, is lying face down on an operating table with a large portion of her back’s skin removed.
Warning: Graphic images ahead
“ONLY SWIPE ON THIS PHOTO IF YOU WANT A REALITY CHECK ON HOW IMPORTANT SKIN CHECKS ARE,” she warned her fans before they aimlessly swiped through the carousel.
Despite the intensity of the images, Mellencamp said she is “feeling more positive” about her next surgery than she was “a week ago.”
“The surgery is the easy part compared to the ups and downs of not being able to control what’s going on inside my own body,” she wrote, noting that she will be going under the knife on Aug. 19.
“In the meantime I will be loving on my kids, getting to see my dad [John Mellencamp] in concert with a bunch of friends, going to some incredible horse shows, and podcasting with some amazing women,” she concluded her message. “I am blessed.”
The former Bravolebrity has been undergoing surgeries to have melanomas removed ever since she was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma in October 2022.
A couple of months later, Mellencamp revealed the surgeries were successful and her margins were clear, but she would have to go for skin checks every four to six weeks.
In September 2023, Mellencamp shared doctors had discovered “another melanoma.”
“At this point, I am starting to black-out these memories like a portion of my childhood,” she wrote under a teary-eyed selfie at the time. “I slept maybe 2 hours last night because my mind was racing.”
She ultimately had to undergo a massive excision on her shoulder, but she said it was “worth it.”
