The skin health movement has a new advocate. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave has recently gone public with her health struggles pertaining to melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer. Thankfully, Teddi’s melanoma was caught in a timely manner and now the fitness and diet enthusiast is using her established platform to bring awareness to the condition.
Page Six shared the result of a biopsy procedure with an image of a pink scar on Teddi’s back. The mother of three posted the picture to her Instagram last week with the unnerving results.
“Melanoma awareness update,” Teddi wrote. “Despite my anxiety, I listened to the doctors and went in for my 3-month skin check last week since my previous melanoma. They said I had another abnormal spot near my last one so they did a biopsy. I got the call this morning: Stage 2 melanoma.”
So what’s next for the RHOBH alum? Teddi is due to have the growths, “cut out and come up with a game plan on the next steps.” Her oncologist also recommended, “some additional testing and biopsies of other spots nearby.”
“Moral of this story: if a doctor says, ‘come in every 3 months’ please go in every 3 months,” Teddi advised. “I so badly wanted to blow this off. ‘What could happen in 3 months?’ I thought. Apparently a lot.”
It must be a surprising diagnosis for someone that has made a career out of offering health, diet, and fitness advice. But Teddi admits that skin care wasn’t on her radar until she hit 40. She admitted, “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.”
In a follow up Instagram Story, Teddi shared more images of the biopsied spots, including some before-and-after pics. One mole was dark brown in color, and the other light pink with a small brown growth on it.
Teddi’s social media was flooded with messages of support. Other followers commiserated with her ordeal.
One post read, “Good for you! I had stage 2 melanoma in my 20s and now I’m 15 years cancer free. I see my dermatologist more often than any other doctor!”
Teddi’s experience inspired a fan to make her own appointment,”I was avoiding a spot. Thank you! You are brave and you’ve got this!”
“I’m glad they found it! You got this girl!” wrote another.
Teddi’s first encounter with the disease occurred in March. Her doctor removed a mole from her back as a precaution because it, “looked like melanoma.”
Since then, the health guru has been vigilant about changes in her skin. Teddi explained, “I had been avoiding [getting my skin checked] bc of my own anxiety for a very long time but when [Kyle Richards] saw my back and it had changed colors again, she immediately took me to the doc who within minutes said it looks like melanoma and did a big removal.”
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[Photo Credit: Bravo/John Tsiavis]
