Rush Limbaugh: An Update on My Health

From Monday's show.

The bad news is: While the cancer had been dormant for a while, it had come back and was now active again.

But Rush remains a fighter.

RUSH: You know, I want to take a minute here, 'cause it struck me. We've been fairly overwhelmed with countless emails and inquiries you have sent wishing me well and wanting a status report on my health. And it struck me. It's been a while. I haven't updated you on it in a while, and the reason is -- and not to be redundant -- but I vowed that I was not -- I have a phrase for it, and that's "bleeding on the audience." Meaning, I'm not gonna come here and complain.

I'm not gonna come here and make whatever's going on with me the only thing that matters to me or anybody else. I've done that my entire broadcast career. One of my pet peeves is people who are so self-focused and so self-interested -- I mean, you could be having a conversation with them, they could ask you how you’re doing, you could be honest, you could tell them, "Well, I'm doing this, doing that, not doing well here," they won't even hear you. They can't wait to tell you what's going on with them.

And I have vowed that I was not going to treat my lung cancer diagnosis as an opportunity to bleed on the audience, to either complain or constantly update. The reason for it is that, first and foremost, there's a radio show here to do each and every day, and that's why people tune in to listen to it.

...

Folks, it's an up and down thing. It really is a day-to-day thing. And so what I tell you one day could very well be true. And then the next day, oops, setback, oops, then I gotta go back, "Folks, what I told you yesterday, forget it. It's not true today." I don't want to put you through that. I don't want to put myself through it. But I know you're concerned. So, it is time. I do want to provide you with a brief and honest update.

In a nutshell, there are lots of ups and downs in this particular illness. And it can feel like a roller coaster at times that you can't get off of. And again, I want to stress here that I know countless numbers of you are experiencing the same thing. If it isn't lung cancer, it's some kind of cancer. If it isn't you, it's somebody really close to you. If it isn't an illness, it's something. We're all going through challenges. Mine are no better and mine are no different and mine are no more special than anybody else. But it can feel like a roller coaster.

From the moment you get the diagnosis, there's a part of you every day, okay, that's it. Life's over. You just don't know when. But when you get that diagnosis, I mean, that's... So, during the period of time after the diagnosis, you do what you can to prolong life, do what you can to prolong a happy life. You measure a happy life against whatever medication it takes.

And at some point you can decide, you know, this medication may be working, but I hate the way I feel every day. I'm not there yet. But it is part and parcel of this. Its tough to realize that the days where I do not think I'm under a death sentence are over. Now, we all are, is the point. We all know that we're going to die at some point, but when you have a terminal disease diagnosis that has a time frame to it, then that puts a different psychological and even physical awareness to it.

So, last week was treatment week. Was it last week? The week before. The week before was treatment week. And I got some scans. I don't get scans every treatment week. The scans did show some progression of cancer. Now, prior to that, the scans had shown that we had rendered the cancer dormant. That's my phrase for it. We had stopped the growth. It had been reduced, and it had become manageable.

But there's always the reality and the knowledge that that can change and it can come back because it is cancer. It eventually outsmarts pretty much everything you throw at it. And this, of course, this is stage 4 lung cancer. A lot of people have said,
"Well, why did you wait until it was stage 4?" There was no way to know when it was stage 1, is the thing. There would have been no reason to go get a bunch of scans.

...

For those of you that have been paying attention to the ballgame analogy of this, when I last left off, I was rounding second base and I was chugging toward third. The objective was to hit a home run, to get a home run: Go all the way around the bases, go to home plate and beat this. So I was rounding second, on the way to third == and I realized I wasn't gonna make it.

I had to turn around and make a mad dash, head back to second base. I slid in there, got into second base safely, and that is where I am. I was trying to steal third base, trying to steal some more ground. But I got waved back to second base. So that's where I am, stuck on second base == fully committed, however, to stealing third and rounding towards home.

You know, all in all, I feel very blessed to be here speaking with you today. Some days are harder than others. I do get fatigued now. I do get very, very tired now. I'm not gonna mislead you about that. But I am extremely grateful to be able to come here to the studio and to maintain as much normalcy as possible -- and it's still true.

You know, I wake up every day and thank God that I did. I go to bed every night praying I'm gonna wake up. I don't know how many of you do that, those of you who are not sick, those of you who are not facing something like I and countless other millions are. But it's a blessing when you wake up. It's a stop-everything-and-thank-God moment.

And every day, thus, results in me feeling more and more blessed. Hearing from you, knowing that you're out there praying and everything else you're doing, that is a blessing. It's just a series of blessings. And I am grateful to be able to come here to the studio, tell you about it, and really maintain as much normalcy as I can.

I know a lot of you out there are going through your own challenges, whether it's cancer or another medical illness or some other life challenge. Maybe even in the hospital right now. Someone told me == I think this is good advice, may be helpful == the only thing that any of us are certain of is right now, today. That's why I thank God every morning when I wake up.

I thank God that I did. I try to make it the best day I can no matter what. I don't look too far ahead. I certainly don't look too far back. I try to remain committed to the idea what's supposed to happen, will happen when it's meant to. I mentioned at the outset of this -- the first day I told you -- that I have personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

It is of immense value, strength, confidence, and that's why I'm able to remain fully committed to the idea that what is supposed to happen will happen when it's meant to. There's some comfort in knowing that some things are not in our hands. There's a lot of fear associated with that, too, but there is some comfort. It's helpful… God, is it helpful. It's helpful to be able to trust and to believe in a higher plan.

So again, let me just thank all of you for your support, your prayers. I send the same to all of you through anything that you are facing. So now the objective here is rounding third, not having to head back to second base and slide in there. Here's to rounding third and heading towards home. That's the objective. That's the goal.

Michael Savage decided it was a good time to attack Rush Limbaugh for giving his audience bad vibes and make a play to steal a cancer patient's audience.

"Limbaugh's crying about his cancer on air! Worst 15 minutes in radio history!" Savage wrote on Twitter. "Spilled a large coffee all over counter and floor. I PROMISE MY AUDIENCE THIS-- I WILL NOT DRAG YOU DOWN WITH ME! Best wishes RUSH, but stop and leave the stage with dignity."

"Compare this to Lou Gehrig in Yankee Stadium," he continued.

Ha ha, Rush has cancer. Please tune in to hear more of my wit.

Holy shit, right?

And Limbaugh doesn't update about his health. He specifically addressed that in the segment, about why he doesn't address it.

But he has gotten enough emails that he thought he should give people the update they were asking for.

And Savage attacks him for this, calling it "the worst 15 minutes of" radio.

What a scumbag.

@megynkelly

I think I speak for, oh, pretty much everyone when I say STFU you absolute douchebag. https://twitter.com/asavagenation/status
/1318226459756879873

posted by Ace at 03:02 PM

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