Real Housewives star Teddi Mellencamp candidly reveals debilitating brain tumour symptoms

star bravely decided to share with fans the symptoms she endured before discovering she had several "plumb-sized" brain tumours. The 43 year old reality TV star revealed her heartbreaking story during an interview with Deborah Roberts on ABC's Nightline show, earlier last week.

Teddi became a household name during her lengthy stint on the popular reality TV show between 2017 and 2020, alongside cast mates including . Following her departure, Teddi focused her attention on her children, her business and her podcast with Real Housewives of Orange County star .

But things took a turn for the worse when she started to suffer from severe over a period of months, which then worryingly led to vision loss. Explaining the moment she lost her eyesight, she told Deborah: "I couldn't see. I mean, I could barely get down the stairs."

At this point Teddi reached out to her estranged husband Edwin Arroyave, who immediately took action and rushed her straight to A&E. She went on to explain: "That's when they said I had four plumb-size tumors in my brain and then within the next day I was in surgery."

She added: "My first real memory was looking up and my entire family was there. My dad, my sister, my brothers, all of my best friends, and I'm being like, 'Hold on, why are y'all here? And chatting? This must be bad'."

Following her shock diagnosis, Teddi underwent radiation therapy to reduce the tumours that remained, which also appeared to be in her lungs. Posting a video on social media, Teddi shared with fans the moment she rang the iconic bell while in hospital, which marked the end of her treatment.

However, Teddi, who works as a health coach, is using the method of immunotherapy. She explained: "One of my favourite things to ask is 'How long I got?' or 'What are my chances?' and they oftentimes say 'fifty-fifty.'"

She added: "Fifty-fifty? I wouldn't buy a car that's only gonna drive 50-percent chance of the time. I don't want this."

Doctors explained that her odds were simply down to the fact that immunotherapy has only been a method for a decade.

While doing her best to remain positive, Teddi admitted that she has been forced to use humour to get her through the dark days and without it, she "would cry".

She went on to say: "If I didn't find humor, I would cry. Even with my kids, like, the other day, we kept forgetting something and we'd all just go 'the tumours'."

Her estranged husband Edwin has been by her side since her diagnosis but claimed on his podcast, The Eds, that it's just "what I do."

He said: "People think that's hard, but for me, that's just what I do. Like it's no matter what, I will always love Teddi and she's been a big part of my life. And I like taking care of people, it's just what I do. So it wasn't even like, a question."

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