Teddi Mellencamp Says Son Checks If She’s Breathing Amid 'Scary' Cancer Fight (Exclusive)

With stage 4 cancer that’s spread to her brain and lungs, and her head shaved, Teddi Mellencamp is fighting for her life.

“Extra’s” Billy Bush spoke with Teddi about her health. Mellencamp sported a gorgeous blonde wig, saying, “I was like, ‘I can’t be looking like I got a toupée up here.”

She shared, “Today is a good day. I think what I’ve learned through all of this is some days, I’m gonna feel great… Some days, I’m not… Everybody’s journey’s different.”

Mellencamp opened up about how she remains positive during this difficult time, saying, “I would say a big thing has been all of the people messaging me saying, ‘I went and got checked because of you,’ or ‘My doctor only had me get this checked, and then I said, no, you should also do this.’

“What we have to remember is my cancer was skin cancer. The last time we spoke here was, like, I had skin cancer, melanoma, on my back. This metastasized, which is still a form of melanoma, but into my brain, into my lungs. I have, you know, before I had them removed, I had four plum-sized melanomas in my brain, and I hadn't gotten a CAT scan. But I had gone and gotten my skin checked every three months."

Next week is a pivotal time for her. Mellencamp revealed, “Wednesday, I go in and get my next CAT scan, where they’ll find out if these recent tumors are getting smaller, and then I also get my third round of immunotherapy. I always thought radiation was the one that was going to kick my butt, but it’s been immunotherapy.”

Mellencamp confessed that it’ll be “four days of bad mood coming up.”

Teddi recently said the odds are at about 50/50 of beating the disease. She has a good outlook, though, saying, “I feel like in my heart of hearts, I’m going to beat it.”

She admitted, “I get sad at the idea of not, and my kids are young. My kids are young, and I still have a lot more trouble to cause. I have so much, you know, I’m nowhere near ready, and I feel like I’m gonna fight as hard as I possibly can. But um, no, it's scary."

As for how her kids are doing amid her cancer battle, Teddi said, “I think the girls are okay because they just are so chatty, you know, they ask everything. Cruz, my son… he is a little bit confused because he’s not asking questions.”

She elaborated, “The other day I was having a sip of, taking a sip of something, and he goes, ‘Can I have a sip?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, sure,’ and he goes, ‘Never mind, actually you’re contagious,’ and I'm like, ‘I’m actually not contagious, bud.' And, like, he’ll come in in the middle of the night and, like, check that I’m breathing.”

Teddi and her husband Edwin Arroyave announced their separation months ago, but they are putting their divorce on hold while she fights cancer.

Mellencamp noted, “We’re not together, but we put, like, all the divorce stuff on hold because getting divorced is very stressful.”

They are also still living under the same roof so that he can help her and the kids.

Teddi explained, “It’s called nesting, but most of the time now since I’ve had these surgeries, he’ll stay at the house and then we kind of rotate around, but not, you know, we’re separate bedroom-ing."

She added, "He's a good guy, and we’re having a friendship, which is what we liked about each other in the first place, making each other laugh and all of those types of things, so I think it’s been really nice. We call it the divorce chronicles, where we just tease each other.”

Teddi’s famous rock star father, John Mellencamp, was also by her side during those tough days after her brain operation.

She recalled, “I think he arrived day 2. So, I went, my first surgery was day one that I was there at Cedars, I think. And then I would say about 15 days were a blur, and then I started, around day 16 is when I was like, ‘I have rage. I need out of here.’”

Mellencamp admitted, “My dad came in one day and it was, like, my friend Kyle and Kelly and Jen and, like, they were there most nights, and I was in an exceptionally bad mood. Couldn’t be meaner. Somebody said something to me and I was like, ‘Are you gonna leave yet?’ but I don’t even remember. But my dad comes in, he's like, ‘Ladies, ladies, I just wanna remind everybody, no hurt feelings.' And Kyle's like, 'My feelings are hurt.' 'No hurt feelings. She doesn't know what she's doing."

Teddi quipped, "That being said, he got the brunt of it, too. He got some action."