The Block’s Darren Jolly and his wife Deanne have described their shock at discovering Darren’s tumour diagnosis.
“It was a bit of a shock, I just thought I had a headache,” Darren revealed in an interview with Tracy Grimshaw, set to air on A Current Affair tonight.
The 33-year-old describes how the tumour was initially discovered after he innocently sought help for a headache that just didn’t seem to go away.
“The headache went for three days straight which didn’t seem right,” he said.
“He (the doctor) said you’ve got a lump on your brain.”
When he saw the medical report, Darren slowly realised the seriousness of his condition, revealing, “it said brain tumour”.
The shock discovery forced Darren to go straight to hospital for surgery to have the lump removed.
Doctors at a Melbourne hospital found the lump just weeks ago, before performing a ventriculostomy which involves drilling through a patient’s skull to drain fluid.
For the fit former AFL star in the midst of renovation mayhem on The Block, it couldn’t have come as a bigger shock.
“I’m only 33, that wasn’t part of the plan,” Darren said.
“One minute I was doing some work on The Block, the next minute I was in hospital being operated on.”
Darren’s ACA interview comes after the couple’s success at last night’s final elimination round on The Block, where the often-controversial pair blew the competition out of the water with their bedroom reveal.
They may be safely through to the final round on the show, but for Dee and Darren, their main concern now is Darren’s recovery and his diagnosis.
“It was very scary to hear all of that when it’s so sudden,” he said.
“It got very serious from that moment because it was so fast.”
The shock images of Darren’s scars after brain surgery.
Darren also revealed that the lump had been there for some time, unbeknownst to him.
“It’s been there a long time,” Darren said.
Channel Nine first revealed the shock discovery of the lump publicly last week.
“His surgery went well and two incision points were created to drain the fluid, which has eased the pressure and headaches,” a Channel Nine spokesman said.
As to what the exactly the tumour is, Darren was still awaiting results at that time, but it is believed he may reveal further details during tonight’s interview.
“A biopsy has been taken to determine what the lump is,” a spokesman said last week.
“Darren will know more about his condition over the next week. Until then there will be no further comment and he and his family respectfully request privacy while they navigate their way through this serious and sensitive issue.”
The top four couples in The Block: Triple Threat finals.
The shock news comes after a tough year for the couple, who walked away from the shock finale of last season’s The Block Glasshouse with a disappointing $10,000 profit.
Not to be deterred, Dee and Darren were back hard at work on set only one week later as Nine invited them back for The Block Triple Threat series.
While it no doubt threw the couple a lifeline to recoup some much needed profits for all of their hard work, it has no doubt made for an exhausting and emotional year for the often-controversial couple who are now facing their biggest challenge yet.
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