Posted by Payneful on April 02, 2008 at 17:27:05:
In Reply to: Allison Payne returns to WGN TV News posted by Welcome Back Cotter on April 02, 2008 at 17:13:50:
Allison Payne finally is returning to the WGN-Ch. 9 anchor desk.
After a nearly three-month absence from Channel 9 because of a series of health issues, Payne said Tuesday that she expects to be back next week alongside Steve Sanders on the Tribune Co. station's 9 p.m. newscast, which she has co-anchored since 1990.
"I'm back in the saddle come Monday," Payne said after a quick visit to Channel 9's West Bradley Place studios to tape promos marking this month's 60th anniversary of the station's launch. "I don't see anything that will keep me from coming back.
"When I get back, I need to spend some time in that studio. It's like getting back on a horse. … I have some anxiety about going back on the air because I haven't done it [in a while], plus you know people are going to be staring at you."
Better that for viewers than wondering if and when she was going to return.
Payne has been sidelined since early January, initially because of a nerve problem that numbed her right arm and hand, making it nearly impossible for her to type. In the course of having that examined, doctors made an unrelated discovery that she at some point earlier had suffered some ministrokes, episodes in which there is a temporary blockage of blood to the brain.
There also was an intestinal issue along the way and, even this week, she is supposed to see an eye doctor about a sty that's been bothering her of late.
"I'm 44 years old. Stuff's starting to break down," Payne said with a laugh. "Hang around doctors long enough, they're going to find something."
Payne bided her time off between doctors' appointments watching "CSI: Miami" reruns on A&E and "The Situation Room" on CNN, but she said she was "reflective about my life" and goals too. There were times, she said, when she battled mild depression and just wanted to be alone.
"My dad finally got over here and said, 'You know your mother wasn't so lucky,' " Payne said.
Indeed, Payne's mother suffered a blood clot and died suddenly at age 37, just days before Allison's 11th birthday. That weighed heavy on her through this ordeal, especially coming off a 2007 in which her father was diagnosed with (and has battled through) prostate cancer and she lost the godmother who helped raise her as well as relatives.
"I was hoping 2008 would kick off better," Payne said. "Next thing I know, it's 'You've had strokes.' "
It's not clear exactly when she suffered those ministrokes.
"They say they could be 10 years old," Payne said. "I'm sure it was just bad relationships. I had three ministrokes? I bet I could put a name to each one of them, and you can quote me on that."
Payne, who said she found answering viewer mail therapeutic during her time away, said the past three months have been quite an education. She probably will work with health correspondent Dina Bair on a report about strokes for WGN, which shares a parent company with the Chicago Tribune.
"I didn't know that people who suffer from migraines have a greater risk of stroke," Payne said. "I didn't know how many African-American women have them. There are just a lot of facts that I think would be helpful. There are some symptoms that if you have them, you're supposed get to a doctor immediately. … You can avoid the debilitating part. I didn't know that."
What she does know is it's time to get back on the air.