The breakfast announcer, who has kept Mudgee locals smiling and informed during the workday morning for the last four years, went missing at the end of November last year.

A post on the radio station’s Facebook page informed loyal listeners that Mel had been in Dubbo and Mudgee Hospital – “just need to rest and get my lungs working properly again,” the post said.  

The Mudgee Guardian caught up with Mel during her first week back on-air.

Welcome back, it’s nice to hear your bubbly voice on the radio again – can you tell us what happened?

Thank you, it’s great to be back!

​Well, I was having trouble breathing but I thought it was a cold or that nasty hay-fever that’s around. So I left it for about a week and a half. One night I got up to feed the cats and passed out, so my sister dragged me to the hospital.

After a heap of tests, the doctor told me they’d found a mass in my stomach, which turned out to be an Ovarian Cyst which is about 20cm by 11cm by 17cm. 

They took me to ICU at Dubbo Hospital, where I stayed for about 4 or 5 days. In that time they did more scans and found I had a chest full of blood clots. 

Have the doctors been able to work out why this happened to you?

The only thing they’ve been able to pin it down to is the Pill.

Every time I tell a female friend they’re shocked. If you read the book that comes with the Pill, which none of us read, it actually warns about blood clotting. 

Are you in the clear now? Or what’s next?

I’m on blood thinners and I still need to have the the cyst removed. They can’t deal with that until the clots are clear. So that surgery will happen a little later this year, meaning more time off-air.

Do you have a message for others feeling unwell?

Clearly, I was the kind of person that would avoid going to the doctor and would try and sleep it off, but don’t ignore it. If there is something that’s unusual or you have pain – you need to get it checked out.