Vanessa Feltz back on TV after emergency surgery and 'extraordinary pain' worse than childbirth

The TV and radio presenter appeared on Jeremy Vine on Channel 5 on Wednesday to explain her emergency surgery after suffering "extraordinary pain"

Vanessa Feltz has made her first TV comeback since being rushed to hospital with "extraordinary pain" that topped even the discomfort of childbirth.

The mum-of-two, 62, updated fans from her hospital bed on Monday, admitting she'd been left 'doubled down in agony' after suffering from a kidney stone. The TV host appeared on Channel 5's Jeremy Vine on Wednesday to talk about her emergency surgery.

"I was felled by a kidney stone," she confided to Jeremy on his show. "Who knew? One thing, I was absolutely fine making lunch for the grandbabies, having a laugh, hungry, normal, everything. And the next minute, the pain was absolutely extraordinary. I've had natural childbirth twice, I've got some idea of pain, but this was remarkable. Actually remarkable. Anyway, in the end, I had to be nuked with a laser."

When Jeremy questioned why the surgeon didn't opt to allow the stone to pass naturally, Vanessa explained: "It was too big, it turned out. They scanned it, it was five millimetres, just a bit more than that. When they said, 'If it's over five millimetres, we'll have to operate,' I was praying, please let it be over five millimetres. Please let them operate because I couldn't bear the thought of suffering through it any longer. I'm delighted to be here, I can't tell you."

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Vanessa, a familiar face on This Morning and other talk shows, took to Instagram after her stint on Jeremy Vine to share why she was back on the small screen so soon following her operation. "I'm freelance," she penned.

"You plaster a smile on your face and go straight back to work. Thank heaven for the fabulous make-up team and paracetamol! Going straight home to bed. Flipping heck!"

Earlier, the seasoned broadcaster had shared an Instagram update from her hospital bed on Monday morning, recounting the frightening turn of events, report OK!. "Good morning from the hospital, a bit of a surprise," she posted.

"Yesterday I was absolutely fine, completely fine and had the children - Saskia and the babies - over for lunch. I was completely fine, not anything wrong with me at all and then suddenly I got this pain and it was just absolutely extraordinary."

She went on to disclose that she was supposed to be on LBC radio that Sunday but ended up in the hospital instead. "Normally, I am quite a trooper with this stuff... I normally could be ill and I'll take a couple of paracetamol and just rock on. But there was no way I could, I just couldn't. So anyway, luckily managed to get seen at the hospital quite quickly, thank God, because I was just in agony. I couldn't sit down, I couldn't lie down, I didn't know what to do," she s.aid

The NHS has clarified the cause of kidney stones such as those experienced by Vanessa, stating that they occur when waste products in the blood "form crystals that collect inside the kidneys. Over time, the crystals may build up to form a hard stone-like lump." It was also noted that possible complications include kidney infections or impaired kidney function.

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