Peter Overton opens up on health battle

Nine News star Peter Overton has opened up about the brutal health battle that's kept him away from the news desk over the past few weeks. 

The presenter had to undergo surgery on his vocal chords, after doctors found a polyp that urgently needed to be removed. 

“I took six weeks annual leave, and then my voice suddenly said, I’m on annual leave as well. I got very husky and raspy over the holidays, and went to the GP. He sent me to an ENT (ear, nose and throat) surgeon, and suddenly the holiday turned into an operation in a Sydney hospital,”  Overton said.

“I had a polyp, quite a large polyp on one of my vocal cords.

"They stick a camera up your nose and then down into your vocal cord, and then on a big screen, you see your vocal cords. And I saw this. It was like a big blister, a lump just hanging off the cord.

“And I must admit, it scared the living daylights out of me."

The polyp was removed three days later and he could return home after a day in recovery, but was unable to talk for a week. 

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“It was interesting being mute. If I went to get the milk, I’d write an email to myself and it would say I’d have to show it to someone!”

News of Overton’s health scare first emerged earlier this month, when his wife, Jess Rowe, revealed that he was on extended leave. 

Overton shared that he's been working with a speech pathologist to get his voice back to what it was like before. 

"I've worked with a great speech pathologist who has got me back to the point I'm at," he said.

"And three weeks since the operation, I'm doing the news again."

"The human body is amazing. I've really learned that, and I've learned about the healing process, and I've learned about how intricate your vocal chords are and what they do," he added. 

"It's been fascinating."

Image: Nine News/ Instagram