Teddi Mellencamp admitted that her favorite question to ask her doctors is how much time she has left amid her battle with cancer.
Mellencamp, 43, has stage IV melanoma, which has spread to her brain and lungs. She underwent surgery in February to address tumors on her brain before doctors found more tumors in March. She spoke candidly to Nightline about the ordeal in a segment that aired Thursday, April 10.
“It’s one of my favorite things to ask is ‘How long I got? What are my chances?’” she said. “And they often say 50/50. 50/50? I wouldn’t buy a car that’s only gonna drive 50 percent of the time. I don’t want this.”
But that number may be misleading. Mellencamp is undergoing immunotherapy, which is still relatively new, meaning doctors don’t have the data to give a better estimate.
“And [the doctor’s] like, ‘No it’s only because that’s how long immunotherapy has been around so that’s how long the study has worked,’” she explained. “So that’s when I then try to find the positive.”
That’s reflected in her attitude toward exercise. Mellencamp, a certified nutrition and wellness coach, said she is used to being able to go out for a seven-mile run but now can barely walk one mile.
“But you know what? I’m here and that makes me feel good,” she said.
She’s also tried to find humor in a situation she said feels like “the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
“If I didn’t find humor, I would cry,” she said. “Even with my kids, the other day, we kept forgetting something and we often go, ‘The tumors!’ It’s kind of the only way.”
Mellencamp reached a major milestone in her battle last week when she had her final round of radiation treatment. She posted a video via Instagram of herself ringing the ceremonial bell at the hospital on April 3.
A week later, she opened up about the emotional toll that her treatment has taken, posting a pair of side-by-side photos via Instagram, showing her long, blonde hair from before treatment began next to her shaved head.
“What a difference 4 months makes,” she wrote in the caption on Thursday.
“Sometimes I am so focused on ‘being strong’ that I forget I am allowed to be sad, cry it out, and feel very alone,” she continued. “I love my kids, friends, and family so much and am forever grateful to them but dang today is one of those days.”
