And as Teddi tends to her physical health, she makes sure to take care of her mental health too.

“I have very big highs and lows depending on what’s going on with my surgeries and whatnot or my diagnosis,” she told E! in October, “but going out on walks, getting fresh air, doing meditation, journaling, just being very open with what I’m going through. And then also having those days where I say ‘I’m just going to let myself crash today’—like ‘I have these three hours to myself. I’m just going to let myself have a little cry to let myself feel these emotions.’ And then it’s kind of easier to process it than when you hold on to something and pretend that everything’s great and everything’s perfect all the time.”

Because she’s sharing her messy truth, literal scars and all, in the hopes that she can serve as a cautionary tale to those who don’t take sun safety all that seriously. She’s had several doctors reach out and say they’ve had numerous patients come in for skin checks after seeing her story and realizing “this isn’t something that you take lightly,” Teddi revealed. She’s not trying to scare people, she continued, “But I think part of sharing my scars and sharing my journey is the wake-up call that a lot of people need.”