Erika Jayne Reveals Teddi Mellencamp’s Surprising Tattoo Decision During Her Stage 4 Cancer Journey

• Teddi Mellencamp has recently added another tattoo to her collection, shortly after getting matching tattoos with her former co-star Kyle Richards featuring a small match with a flame.
• Erika Jayne revealed on the Diamonds in the Rough Podcast that Mellencamp needed to be “medically cleared” before getting her tattoo.
• Mellencamp is fighting stage 4 cancer and has undergone several tumor removals.

Teddi Mellencamp required her doctors’ approval before getting her latest tattoos, including the matching one with Kyle Richards.

In the episode on Thursday, April 17, of the Diamonds in the Rough podcast, Mellencamp, 43, and Erika Jayne, 53, discussed Mellencamp’s recent tattoo experience.

“I’ve always wanted this tattoo, but never got around to it,” Mellencamp shared, explaining her battle with melanoma that has spread to her lungs and brain.

Jayne interjected, “Before anyone worries, she was allowed to get the tattoo. She was medically cleared, so there’s no need to panic.”

Mellencamp stated, “My entire family and I have talked during holidays about wanting to get this little knife tattoo.”

“Whenever I’m annoyed, I just want to be able to show it off,” she continued, presumably revealing the knife tattoo on her forearm. “Anyone who knows me will understand that we’re done with this conversation.”

She added with a laugh, “Plus, we had a song that went with it where we’d sing, ‘I think I like this little knife,'” jokingly referencing the lyrics of “Little Life” by singer Cordelia and labeling it “the most obnoxious song ever.”

“You know what? We’ve now claimed it for the little knife,” Mellencamp quipped.

This new tattoo comes just a week after she and Richards, 56, got matching tattoos at the birthday party of Jennifer Turner Leipart. They shared this news in an Instagram post on Thursday, April 10.

In one photo from the post, Mellencamp is seen getting a tattoo while clad in pajamas. The final image is a black-and-white shot of their matching arm tattoos: a small match with a flame.

Richards captioned the post, “We love our new tattoos! A perfect match! Yolo 😜.”

The mother of three first announced on Instagram in 2022 that she had been diagnosed with stage II melanoma. In February of this year, after experiencing “severe and debilitating headaches” for weeks, doctors discovered multiple brain tumors.

Since her initial diagnosis, Mellencamp indicated that she has undergone the removal of over a dozen melanomas. She mentioned that medical professionals believed her brain tumors had been “growing for at least six months” when they were discovered earlier this year.

Following a craniotomy with tumor resection, she revealed that four tumors were excised instead of just two. However, doctors later identified five additional tumors, including some in her lungs.

On April 3, Mellencamp also released a video via her Instagram Stories announcing that her cancer has been classified as stage 4. In an interview with Nightline that aired on Thursday, April 10, she conveyed that her doctor indicated her immunotherapy treatment had a “50/50” chance of success.

“One of my favorite questions is, ‘How long do I have? What are my chances?’ And they often reply 50/50,” she recounted. “I said, ‘50/50? I wouldn’t buy a car that only drives 50% of the time. I don’t want this.’”

She continued, “The doctor explained that it’s just because that’s how long immunotherapy has been around and that’s how long the data has been collected. That’s when I try to shift my focus to the positive.”