Married At First Sight expert Mel Schilling has detailed finding out she has colon cancer.
The MAFS star, 51, shared a photo of herself hugging her husband Gareth Brisbane and eight-year-old daughter Madison on Instagram.
"YOU HAVE CANCER. Three little words that everyone dreads but no one ever expects to hear," she said, explaining that she became concerned when she developed severe stomach cramps on set while filming the upcoming season of Married At First Sight in Australia.
"I put it down to all the travel I'd been doing and the upset it caused to my system. I saw my GP in Sydney and he put it down to constipation, gave me some laxatives and sent me on my way," Schilling explained.
"Fortunately I knew something still wasn't right so I booked in for a scan when I returned to the UK. On Thursday I was told I had colon cancer and in an instant my whole life changed."
She said she had planned to spend Christmas with loved ones in Northern Ireland, but was now preparing for surgery.
"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," she wrote.
However, Schilling said she felt "incredibly blessed that it's a cancer that is relatively easy to eradicate" and despite a tough road ahead, she was expected to make a full recovery.
"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," she said.
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