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John Mellencamp Shares Daughter Teddi’s Ongoing Cancer Battle, Calls it “Not Fun”
Musician John Mellencamp offered a somber update on his daughter, Teddi Mellencamp’s, health struggles amidst her ongoing cancer diagnosis, stating she is “really sick.” The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer shared the personal details during a recent episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.
“It’s not f—ing fun,” the 74-year-old Mellencamp told Rogan. “She’s got cancer in the brain, and she’s suffering right now.”
Teddi Mellencamp, 44, a former star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” first revealed last year that her skin cancer had advanced to Stage 4, with tumors discovered in her lungs and brain. Following the diagnosis, she underwent emergency brain surgery, as well as radiation and immunotherapy treatments.
In a separate interview with the “TODAY” show, John Mellencamp expressed his desire for his daughter to return to their home state of Indiana during her treatment. “I’m trying to talk her into moving back home,” he said, adding that her immunotherapy treatment brings both “good days” and others where she “feels like hell.”
Teddi Mellencamp has openly discussed her father’s sometimes blunt reactions to her diagnosis. On her podcast, “Two T’s In A Pod,” co-hosted with Tamra Judge, she recounted her father making funeral arrangements shortly after her cancer metastasized. “Yesterday my dad calls 11 times in a row … he goes, ‘I just want to make sure that you’re going to be in our group family mausoleum,'” she shared.
Despite the challenges, there have been glimmers of hope. In an Instagram video a few weeks after her initial revelations, Teddi Mellencamp announced that her scans showed her tumors had “significantly shrunk.”
She expressed optimism, writing, “Doctors believe I will be healed if everything stays on course.” In October, she further shared on her podcast that while there was no detectable cancer in her body, she was “not in remission.”
Teddi Mellencamp’s team has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding her current condition.
During a recent podcast episode, Mellencamp revealed she has been actively engaging in therapy and resting to cope with “massive PTSD” stemming from her cancer journey. However, she indicated a positive shift, stating, “I’m starting to feel a little better. The cloud is lifting.”