MAFS coach Mel Schilling shares candid insight into cancer battle
Mel Schilling has been reflecting on her recent cancer diagnosis.
In December of last year, the Married At First Sight dating coach was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer.
Following her diagnosis, Mel – who shares nine-year-old daughter Maddie with her husband Gareth – has now been opening up about her ongoing battle with the disease.
The native Australian recently spoke to OK!, during which she admitted that her chemotherapy treatment is taking a huge toll on her.
“It’s getting tough now. I’m about halfway through and it’s getting hard. Feeling fatigued and nauseous is a bigger part of my everyday life. It feels like I’m hungover or pregnant every day, which is not fun,” Mel confessed.
“In true ‘me’ fashion, the day we moved was the day I started chemotherapy – I don’t do things by halves. It’s been a tricky time as I’ve been adjusting to going through that and moving house. But Gareth has been doing most of the move so I’m very lucky he’s happy to pick up the slack,” the 52-year-old praised.
Mel, who features on both the UK and Australian versions of MAFS, went on to explain that she first noticed symptoms when she was flying back and forth between the two countries.
“My digestive system packed to a halt and I started having stomach pain. I wasn’t paying attention to my body because I was so busy. I’m a big foodie and I noticed something was really wrong when I couldn’t eat anything or even hold down a cup of tea,” she detailed, adding that she “never thought it would be cancer.”
“As horrible as it has been, and it is – let’s not sugarcoat it – a tough call, there is some sense of purpose, I guess. I’ve realised that I do have a platform and while it’s lots of fun to use it for entertainment purposes, I also get to use it to raise awareness. Since I’ve been diagnosed I’ve connected with a lot of charities and I’ve learnt so much,” Mel noted further.
