Teddi Mellencamp's ex reveals how they told their children about her stage 4 cancer battle

Teddi Mellencamp's estranged husband has revealed how they told their children about her battle with stage four cancer.

The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills alum married Edwin Arroyhave in 2011, and they subsequently welcomed Slate, 12, Cruz, 10, and Dove, five. 

Although Teddi filed for divorce this past November, she and Edwin remained amicable co-parents and he has proven a source of support to her during her illness.

Now Edwin has shared how he handled the delicate task of keeping their young children informed of their mother's circumstances.

He explained that he and Teddi preferred to be 'upfront,' reasoning that it was 'better to be direct with them' rather than letting them learn the news on the internet.

Edwin said he 'would stay home with the kids' and try to keep them 'confident,' although they were 'concerned' and 'scared,' on his podcast The Eds.

'I tried my best to again not sugarcoat it too much,' he said on the latest episode of the podcast, which he hosts with Eddie Judge, husband of The Real Housewives Of Orange County star Tamra Judge. 

'I called it the way it was. It's like: "Hey, there's some tumors that your mom has in her brain,"' Edwin candidly revealed.

'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."'

Edwin's update comes as Teddi used Instagram Stories to announce her final day of radiation amid her ongoing cancer battle.

The reality TV personality — who is preparing her children for the worst — appeared online in a video and shared, 'So it's a pretty big day. Today's supposed to be my final day of radiation.'

She noted that the final day 'was supposed to be last week,' but then doctors 'found those pesky four more tumors.'

Showing off her yellow T-shirt that read 'I'm a ray of f***ing sunshine,' she sarcastically added, 'I decided on a nice shirt just in case I do get to ring my bell,' in reference to the bell cancer patients commonly ring to signify they've completed treatment.

It comes as her estranged husband Edwin Arroyave, 47, discussed supporting her in the wake of her health crisis despite their recent November divorce filing. 

Teddi said in her Instagram post that upon completing radiation, she will only have immunotherapy left to do.

And the mother-of-three said she had 'a pretty good feeling' that she would finish radiation as planned before joking 'I already look like Hannibal Lecter' in her treatment mask.

Keeping up a positive spirit, she gushed that she 'loves' her doctor and said her friend Jennifer Leipart would be joining her to ring the bell.

On Thursday's The Eds podcast episode, Arroyave opened up to co-host Eddie Judge about his instinct to be there for Teddi even though their marriage is ending.

He remembered when he first found out about Mellencamp's diagnosis and said his first thought thought was to get her to feel 'confident.'

The father-of-four said he also wanted to get their relationship to a 'good place' and make sure their three kids were emotionally secure.

'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,' Edwin said of being by his wife's side throughout her health ordeal.

Referring to their paused divorce proceedings, he shared, 'The first thing is just making sure that we take care of this first.

'And all that other stuff — we'll see what happens with time. But for right now, it's just more of like, how do we take care of you? And how can we get you back to normal as fast as [possible]? That other stuff will figure itself out.'

The Skyline Security founder showed his support on social media on Thursday as well.

He shared photos of Teddi's Us Weekly cover, which included the heart-wrenching quote, 'I'm fighting for my life.'

'I'm endlessly proud of your resilience and courage,' he said. 'The way you keep pushing forward, no matter the setback, is nothing short of inspiring.'

His heartfelt note continued, 'You show up every single day to face this battle head-on, and even on the hardest days, you still find a way to get things done. Your strength is remarkable — and so are you.'

In a second post, he added, 'Strong isn't a big enough word to describe what a fighter @teddimellencamp is.'

Elsewhere, he wrote, 'I know she is helping so many by sharing her story.' 

Mellencamp announced her split from her husband of 13 years in November. 

Then, in February she publicly shared that doctors discovered multiple brain tumors, resulting in emergency surgery.

The effects of the growing tumors were present for six months before the star, who is the daughter of musician John Mellencamp, finally sought medical attention.

Her brain tumor trauma is a result of her battle with skin cancer, which began in 2022. 

Taking to Instagram on Thursday evening, Teddi explained to her one million followers, 'Ringing the bell can signify a major phase of treatment — today was my last day of radiation.

'5 more rounds of immunotherapy to go.  Love you all for the kind messages.'