Married at First Sight dating coach Mel Schilling has revealed she has been diagnosed with cancer.
Posting on Instagram on Tuesday, Schilling said doctors told her she had colon cancer last week. She added that she would be spending Christmas in hospital as she has an operation to remove a tumour.
The psychologist has been a part of the MAFS cast since 2016, first in her home country Australia and later on the UK version of the show, which airs on E4. She is one of three relationship experts on the UK show alongside Paul Brunson and Charlene Douglas.
The 51-year-old announced the news with a photo on Instagram with her husband Gareth and daughter Madison.
‘Rough road ahead'
She explained that she developed severe stomach cramps a few months ago and was initially told she had constipation before having a scan and discovering the cancer.
“This week I had planned to travel to Northern Ireland with my family to spend Christmas with loved ones,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Instead tomorrow morning I'm checking in to hospital to have an operation to remove a 5cm tumour in my colon, a tumour that had it gone undetected for much longer would have killed me.” The dating and relationship coach said she was “blessed” that the cancer was easy to eradicate and she was “expected to make a full recovery though it's a rough road ahead”.
She added that although it will be “so tough to spend Xmas Day in hospital instead of being surrounded by family”, getting rid of her tumour will be “the best present of all”.
She urged people not to ignore anything that did not feel right and “if you don't think the answers you have got are right, keep going until you do, it might just save your life”. Colon cancer is a form of bowel cancer and, according to Cancer Research UK, there are around 42,000 new cases of bowel cancer diagnosed in the UK each year.
What are the symptoms of bowel cancer?
- changes in your poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you
- needing to poo more or less often than usual for you
- blood in your poo, which may look red or black
- bleeding from your bottom
- often feeling like you need to poo, even if you've just been to the toilet
- tummy pain
- bloating
- losing weight without trying
- feeling very tired for no reason
— CutC by bbc.com
