Fan-favourite reality show expert, Mel Schilling, has today revealed a heartbreaking cancer diagnosis, urging others to take their health concerns seriously.
In a raw Instagram post, Schilling reveals the heartbreaking details of her diagnosis, sharing the symptoms that first alerted her that something could potentially be wrong.
Based in the UK with her family, the Aussie dating and relationship coach was first alerted to her subsequent condition while filming the latest season of the ever-popular reality show, Married At First Sight.
“About a month ago when I was filming in Australia I developed severe stomach cramps on set, I put it down to all the travel I’d been doing and the upset it caused to my system,” she recounts, sharing that her Sydney-based GP prescribed her laxatives, putting her discomfort down to constipation.
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Not entirely convinced her ailments would be so easily cured, Schilling opted to undergo additional testing upon returning to the UK, where she now resides with her husband and young daughter.
“On Thursday I was told I had colon cancer and in an instant, my whole life changed,” writes Schilling.
Best known for her recurring role as a television expert on the reality series MAFS, Schilling has spent the last few years between Australia and the UK filming the series for both audiences.
Ever the optimist, Schilling acknowledged her gratitude for her support system, and the detection of her condition that will no doubt support her recovery, “I feel incredibly blessed that it’s a cancer that is relatively easy to eradicate, I’m expected to make a full recovery though it’s a rough road ahead,” she says.
Joined by her husband and daughter, the TV personality shared she will be undergoing an operation tomorrow to remove a 5cm tumour from her colon, saving her life.
“It will be so tough to spend Xmas Day in hospital instead of being surrounded by family but getting rid of Terry (what I’ve named my tumour) will be the best present of all,” says Schilling, who due to her recent diagnosis has had to postpone her holiday plans of travelling to Northern Ireland with her loved ones.
Finishing her post with a message to her followers, Schilling urges anyone concerned about their health to look into their symptoms.
“If something doesn’t feel right, please, please don’t ignore it and if you don’t think the answers you have got are right, keep going until you do, it might just save your life,” she says