Teddi Mellencamp’s friends show touching act of ‘solidarity’ amid star’s cancer battle

Teddi Mellencamp’s friends are continuing to rally around the star, amid her ongoing cancer battle. 

The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 43, revealed on Tuesday that her female pals threw her a ‘wig party’, after she had to shave her head to undergo brain surgery.

In February, multiple tumors were found on her brain and she underwent emergency surgery. 

Additional tumors were then discovered on her brain and lungs, and earlier this month she shared that her cancer has progressed to stage four, and that doctors gave her a ‘fifty-fifty’ chance of survival.

But Teddi’s friends kept her in good spirits with the touching act of solidarity, as she shared a snap of them all wearing different wigs. 

The reality star joked in her caption that the move was safer than a ‘shaving my head in solidarity party.’ 

In the snap, Teddi was pictured in the middle, wearing a long blonde wig with loose curls – similar to what her hair looked like before she had to shave it.

Two of her friends also wore blonde wigs, while some opted for more bright colors like pink and violet.

‘My hospital girl crew (minus Jenn and Kyle) surprised me with a wig party. I guess that was safer than a shaving my head in solidarity party so I can’t complain.’

‘Love them so much. I feel blessed to have the support I do ❤️,’ Teddi wrote in her caption, before adding, ‘Now who is most likely to get a matching tattoo from @wyldwess?’

She also shared the snap to her Instagram Stories, writing, ‘Wig party with my besties who are getting me through hardest time of my life. I can’t believe they pulled off a surprise.’

The gesture was especially touching after Teddi recently gave fans a harrowing update on the effects of her treatments, showing a side-by-side photo to show how her hair has changed.

In an image from four months prior, Teddi had flowing blonde hair and a glowing visage.

A second picture showed the mother-of-three with her natural brunette hair cut close to her scalp, with a huge semi-bald patch stretching from the side to the back.

She captioned the heart-wrenching post, ‘What a difference 4 months makes.’

‘Sometimes I am so focused on “being strong” that I forget I am allowed to be sad, cry it out, and feel very alone. I love my kids, friends, and family so much and am forever grateful to them but dang today is one of those days,’ she added. 

‘If you are having a day where you can’t wait for it to be bedtime so you can start over tomorrow leave me a ❤️ We are not alone.’

Earlier this month she shared a fresh faced selfie with the caption: ‘The other side of my head is completely bald. Please refer your fave non-itchy or hot wigs. Dear half-wig/half-baseball caps from Amazon… let’s do better. I was so excited for you. You hurt my feelings.’

In March, she also debuted a blonde wig, sharing a side-by-side photo comparing it to her natural hair.

‘Some days you feel like a wig, some days you don’t. You’re my bestie and we’re going to lunch… am I coming wig or no wig?’ she captioned the post.

Teddi, who previously admitted to crying about the bald spots on her head, has also drawn strength from her famous father, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member John Mellencamp, 73.

She recently recalled a conversation between them: ‘It’s hilarious. I called him, like, “Dad, I’m bald today,” and he’s like “well it could be worse”, ‘I’m like, “how!” ‘You could be dead.’

Teddi – who has also been candid about her battle with melanoma – appeared on ABC’s Nightline this week and said that doctors have given her a ‘fifty-fifty’ chance on survival as she still receives immunotherapy treatment.

During her interview, Mellencamp expressed: ‘One of my favorite things to ask is “How long I got?” or “What are my chances?” and they oftentimes say “fifty-fifty.”‘

‘Fifty-fifty? I wouldn’t buy a car that’s only gonna drive 50-percent chance of the time. I don’t want this,’ was her reply.

Mellencamp said that her doctors explained the reason for those odds were that immunotherapy had only been around for about a decade ‘and that’s how long the study has worked.’

The TV personality also shared the scary symptoms she had before learning she had several brain tumors.

And the star shared them with her fans so they know how to react in case they suffer from a similar problem.

Mellencamp had debilitating headaches for months, until one day her vision was severely impaired: ‘I couldn’t see. I mean, I could barely get down the stairs.’

The star quickly called her estranged husband, Edwin Arroyave, 47, who rushed her to the hospital.

‘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 told host Deborah Roberts.

‘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,”‘ she explained with a chuckle.

Since then she has undergone radiation therapy to shrink remaining tumors, including some in her lungs, ringing the bell to signal the end of that treatment in a video on social media.

The couple have put their divorce on hold for now, and Arroyave is standing by his wife of some 14 years.

On a recent episode of The Eds podcast, Arroyave revealed he was all in. ‘People think that’s hard, but for me, that’s just what I do,’ the entrepreneur explained.

‘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.’

Mellencamp and Arroyave are parents to daughter Slate, 12, son Cruz 10, and daughter Dove, five, along with Arroyave’s daughter Isabella. 

As a result of her condition, Mellencamp has been dealing with changes in her physical abilities and her appearance.

‘I had a good cry yesterday when this part went bald,’ she said putting her hand on the affected area, ‘but we sprayed it,’ adding ‘it’s really going to grow out post-cancer, I can feel it.’

On the Wednesday episode of her Two Ts in a Pod podcast with Tamra Judge, Mellencamp explained her dad had called to make sure she would be laid to rest in the family mausoleum.

‘He goes, “Well you’re doing your will right now, so you may as well put it in there.”‘

In spite of the dark humor, Mellencamp said her father ‘always taught me to be a fighter.’

For now, the determined patient is taking each day as it comes.

‘I think the biggest thing is don’t take anything for granted. Normally, I’m used to running seven miles, today, I’m barely walking one, but you know what? I’m here and that makes me feel good. These are special times that we get to do any of this.’