Teddi Mellencamp has revealed that new health woes landed her in the hospital amid her stage IV cancer battle.
“I thought I had the flu. And then I woke up one day and my whole body was just covered in, like, this terrible rash,’” Mellencamp, 44, revealed on the Tuesday, March 3, episode of her “Two Ts in a Pod” podcast. “Like, you can’t even say it’s a rash because it’s almost like sores all over my entire body.”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum walked her podcast cohost Tamra Judge through a tough week where she spent a few days in the hospital. Mellencamp initially sought treatment at urgent care but was told to go straight to the ER because the sores “hurt” and “burned.”
Mellencamp recalled that there were sores all over her face — including around her eyes — by the time she finally received treatment.
“It was around my eyes a little bit, but it was everywhere, and then I couldn’t swallow,” she recalled,
Doctors eventually discovered that Mellencamp had developed a skin condition called Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) as a reaction to some medication. Per the Mayo Clinic, SJS is a “rare, serious disorder of the skin and mucous membranes” that starts with “flu-like symptoms, followed by a painful rash that spreads and blisters” as a top layer of skin dies.
Luckily, Mellencamp’s doctors caught the skin condition in time and she was treated with “injectable steroids and antibiotics” during her hospital stay.
“The reason they were like, ‘You have to stay in [the hospital]’ is because they can start to get better and then shift right back up,” she revealed.
Mellencamp’s doctors ultimately released her from the hospital just in time for her to celebrate her daughter Dove’s 6th birthday on February 25.
“It wasn’t feeling great, but it’s just the adrenaline from being there,” she recalled on the “Two Ts in a Pod” podcast. “I was so happy.’
The reality star paid tribute to her “miracle baby” in a sweet Instagram post shortly after her release from the hospital. (Teddi and her estranged husband, Edwin Arroyave, share three children together while Arroyave also has a daughter from a previous relationship.)
“The strength and resilience you have shown since you came into this world is something I have learned to use in my own fight,” Teddi wrote to Dove on February 25. “And now at 6, you’re teaching us all how to enjoy life to the fullest while being your unabashed self. I am still so sorry I was in the hospital and missed your 5th party; but dang you don’t know how grateful I am to be at this one. “
She went on, “Love you so much, Dovey Doo. Hope this year is your best yet.”
Mellencamp has endured around 20 surgeries since she was diagnosed with stage II melanoma in March 2022. In February 2025, she revealed that her cancer had advanced to stage 4 and metastasized to her lungs and brain, along with doctors finding four malignant brain tumors.
By October, the former RHOBH star shared positive news that her recent scans showed she had “no detectable cancer,” though she was still being monitored by her doctors.
“I’m not considered in remission or anything like that,” she admitted to podcast listeners. “When they told me, I was in such shock. I was, like, numb.”
More recently, Mellencamp reflected on the one-year anniversary of her stage IV cancer diagnosis with a poignant post on February 9.
“I have a lot of anxiety surrounding today but also a lot of gratitude,” she wrote via Instagram. “Gratitude for the doctors and nurses who took care of me, gratitude for my family and friends for supporting me, and gratitude for all the love that you have poured into me.”
She encouraged her Instagram followers to “trust your instincts [and] get checked” whenever they have health concerns.
