Teddi Mellencamp‘s estranged husband Edwin Arroyave has opened up about how the family dealt with the Real Housewives‘ alum’s stage 4 cancer diagnosis, especially the impossible task of informing their young children.
On the The Eds podcast, he and his co host Eddie Judge – who is married to fellow Real Housewives star Tamra Judge – discussed the effect of the diagnosis on Arroyave and Mellencamp’s children, Slate, 12, Cruz, 10, and Dove, five. They also share Isabella, Arroyave’s daughter from a previous marriage.
Watch the video above
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“I was upfront with them with what was going on,” Arroyave said, though he admitted, “They got scared. Obviously they were concerned, but I tried my best to again, not sugarcoat it too much, let them know, ‘Hey, there are some risks that come with this.’
“You know, I called it the way it was. It’s like, ‘Hey, there’s some tumours that your mum has in her brain.’ And I said, ‘it sounds worse than what it is, but this is what I think is, this is what we think is going to happen. This is sort of how we’re going to deal with it. And this is why I’m confident that she’s going to make it through'” he told his children of his estranged wife, who announced that she would be divorcing him in November 2024.
He shared that this was a decision both he and Mellencamp came to as “we knew that it’s better to be direct with them than them find out online or on the internet or somewhere. But they’ve been strong. Kids are resilient. And I’ve been very impressed with them.”
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The 47-year-old added, ”They’ve still been doing great in school. They’ve been doing great in the sports. I’ve tried to just keep it consistent with them… have them continue to do what they’ve always done.”
It comes as Mellencamp, 43, revealed that there were four more tumours found on her brain.
Two days ago she revealed to US Weekly that just last week, four more small tumours on her brain had been discovered days after their chat.
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“I’m fighting for my life,” the reality star, told the publication.
“But also for my family’s life and all the people I love.”
The star, who is the daughter of singer John Mellencamp, recently had had four tumours removed during brain surgery.
She later told fans after returning home from hospital that scans have showed she has “multiple tumours in her brain” and two in her lungs.
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