‘Teen Mom’ Cheyenne Floyd Explains Why She Kept Daughter Ryder’s Hospitalization From Cory Wharton During ‘Challenge’ Filming (Exclusive)

Teen Mom OG‘s Cheyenne Floyd had a tough call to make when daughter Ryder was hospitalized in December. With Ryder’s father, Cory Wharton, filming The Challenge: Total Madness and out of immediate contact with his family, Floyd ultimately chose not to reach out and let him know about his daughter’s health struggle. Explaining the difficult decision to PopCulture.com ahead of Tuesday’s all-new episode of the MTV show, Floyd revealed everyone involved was struggling with the distance when Wharton left for filming.

“[Cory] was having a really hard time when he was there missing Ryder,” Floyd explained, recalling times when Wharton would call her crying about being away from his daughter, now 3. He wasn’t the only one. “Ryder had a hard time with it,” Floyd added. “She really missed him, and then days when he was allowed to call, she was always in the middle of a dance class or play date, so she wasn’t really in daddy mode to want to talk to him.”

Things got even more difficult when, at the start of December, Ryder had to be rushed to the hospital due to complications with her genetic condition, very-long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (VLCAD), in which body is unable to break down certain fats. While Floyd initially considered telling Wharton about the hospitalization, she ultimately “covered [her] bases” with his parents and girlfriend Taylor Selfridge, who agreed that he would likely forfeit the rest of the competition and rush home for what doctors reassured her would be a recoverable situation. “Let’s just let him finish with a clear mindset,” she recalled thinking.

Just a few days later, Ryder was able to be released from the hospital with a clean bill of health, and the little girl was reunited with her daddy just a few days later. At the time, Floyd took to Instagram to thank all her followers and explain why she has always been so open with Ryder’s health journey since her diagnosis as a baby. “When her fever first came on we stayed home to try to get it to come down, after she couldn’t hold her food down she enters a ‘fasting’ period and she cannot fast or she could have a metabolic crisis,” she wrote on Dec. 8. “It’s the worst feeling in the world to have a sick child and to put them in more pain with all the hospital tests. She woke up and still had a fever but she was eating and holding her food down so that was a good sign. Soon after her fever broke, she was able to be taken off the IV, and she looked better. The doctors believe she has a virus and we will be able to keep her in the house to let it run it’s course as long as she’s eating.”

“People constantly ask me why do we take Ryder to the hospital for a common fever, and the answer is for her it’s not a common fever it can turn into something much worse because she is a VLCAD carrier so we will always be extremely cautious,” she continued. “I’m so happy we are home and she’s able to cuddle up in her own environment to fight off this virus. We are so blessed that her VLCAD is mild and this has only been our second hospitalization. Thank you again to everyone who sent in messages, text, dms, & calls. I will always continue to share our health journey.”

For more of Floyd’s story, as well as that of her co-stars Maci Bookout, Amber Portwood, Mackenzie McKee and Catelynn Lowell, don’t miss Teen Mom OG, airing Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV. For more from PopCulture about Teen Mom OG and its stars, click here.