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Studio 10's Denise Drysdale hospitalised with 'rare disorder': 'Agony'
Studio 10 star Denise Drysdale has been rushed to hospital in 'unspeakable agony' while suffering a 'rare nerve disorder,' her colleagues have revealed.
The morning program's showbiz reporter, Craig Bennett shared the sad news about the 72-year-old's health with viewers on Thursday.
"You might've noticed you haven't seen somebody on this couch or on this show for a little while," he said as his co-hosts Sarah Harris and Angela Bishop looked on.
"Last week [Denise] was taken to hospital after suffering 'unspeakable agony'," he added.
Craig said Denise later described her pain as the equivalent of 'being struck by a lighting bolt' or jabbed with 'a white-hot poker'.
"It turns out she's suffering from a rare nerve disorder that affects the face, trigeminal neuralgia," he explained.
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Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic pain condition that affects the trigeminal or fifth cranial nerve which carries sensation from the face to the brain. Pain can be mild to severe and the condition is reportedly most common in women aged over 50.
Craig added that he had been in contact with Denise, who is based in Queensland, several times a day since she was admitted to hospital last week.
He said that she was 'slowly on the mend' and in true comedic style, was keeping the nurses 'in stitches' of laughter.
Craig, Sarah and Angela then wished Denise the 'speediest of recoveries' and hoped that 'Ding Dong' — as she's known — would rejoin the show via video link soon.
Denise's health battles
In 2019, Denise was hit with a string of health issues beginning with a knee injury that required a knee replacement.
After the surgery, she developed blood clots in her knee and ended up suffering headaches and vision loss which doctors later discovered was caused by a detached retina.
While recovering from treatment for her eye, Denise also received multiple courses of intravenous antibiotics to tackle infected lumps on her head. And on New Year's Eve, she discovered a lump on her breast which thankfully turned out to be a cyst.
Denise's unlucky streak continued in late 2020 when she fell and broke her shoulder while filming Channel 7's mini-golf series, Holey Moley.
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