When The Block: Tree Change contestants Sarah-Jane and Tom Calleja nervously sat through the show's auction finale a few weeks ago, the couple was dealing with more personal news in the background.
Wilson has revealed on Instagram that she underwent a double mastectomy last week, after learning the day before the show's November 5 auctions that her surgery had been approved.
The reality TV star explained the surgery was a preventative measure as she's a BRCA1 gene carrier with a higher risk of developing breast cancer.
"In my case, my mum got breast cancer for the first time at 36, so really high chance of getting it while I'm still quite young," she told her followers in a video shared to her Instagram story.
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"So, I've had all my breast tissue removed, and then, really, really grateful I didn't have to get expanders, my skin was good, they were able to put implants straight in," she added.
Calleja said she had an "85% chance of developing breast cancer" if she didn't get the surgery. According to Breast Cancer Network Australia, "the most common inherited gene mutations that increase the risk of breast cancer are in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2". Abnormalities in these genes occur in about 1 in 400 Australian people, and Cancer Australia reports that women who carry a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 have a 30-60% risk of getting breast cancer.
After returning home from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, where she got the surgery, Calleja has been sharing updates about her health and how she's spending time recovering and bingeing reality TV shows like Love Is Blind and Love Triangle.
It comes after she and Tom revealed earlier this month the painful toll of a disappointing result at The Block auction. The couple's house sold for only $4,100,000.99, which was just $20,000.99 above their $4.08 million reserve price. In an Instagram post, they shared that they would be selling the $80,000 Ford Ranger they won during Landscape Week.
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"Unfortunately for Tom we will sell the Ford 😂🚙 and we will be walking away with 100k so no complaints from us," Sarah-Jane wrote on the couple's shared Instagram account.
"Even if we walked away with nothing we had the experience of a lifetime and something we can tell our grandkids about! Are we disappointed sure but nothing is ever guaranteed and at this point I think we’ll be fully over it by Tuesday."
The pair were one of five teams on the renovations show this year alongside Rachel and Ryan, Sharon and Ankur, Dylan and Jenny, and winners Omar and Oz.
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