RUSH: Okay, time for an update on my condition, my circumstances, my treatment. I told you all from the very beginning that I did not want to be a cancer patient here on the radio. Now, those of you who\u2019ve been through this or have had family members go through it, you know that it takes over your life if you let it. You know that it has deep-seated psychological impacts on everybody in your family, including the person who has come down with it.<\/p>\n
It takes a yeoman\u2019s effort to get past all that. It takes a lot of effort to try to live what used to be and what you try to make a normal life again. But there\u2019s always that cloud hanging out over there. So rather than talk about blood draws and all of the medical specifics, what I thought I would do was use a sports analogy.<\/p>\n
And since I used to work for the Kansas City Royals I understand baseball a bit, and baseball is probably the best sport to use to analogize where I am to date in my treatment for what is, for those of you who don\u2019t know — there\u2019s new people listening, tuning in every day — advanced stage lung cancer which was diagnosed back in January, on the 20th.<\/p>\n
So leaning on my time with the Kansas City Royals, I thought the best way to update you and to inform you would be with a baseball analogy. It was in late January that we learned of the diagnosis. That means we learned of a really tough opponent. So, it was time to go up to bat, time to walk to the plate, bat in hand, and that is exactly what happened. And my first two at-bats were horrible. My first two at-bats struck out. Nothing to show for it.<\/p>\n
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The first two attempts to deal with the cancer failed. One was a targeted therapy of clinical trial drugs, which worked but nearly killed me in the process. And so we had to get off of those. But that at-bat showed me I could hit the pitch. I wasn\u2019t gonna strike out. I was at least able to make contact. We had some hope that there would be a remedy.<\/p>\n
The second at-bat was a total and complete failure. I struck out on three pitches. Did not even make contact. So I\u2019m now up in the bottom of the ninth, I\u2019m 0-for-2. I have not reached first base. I didn\u2019t coax a walk out of anybody. I didn\u2019t get a hit, much less a double or a triple. But on my third at-bat, the third attempt, I managed to get on base. I hit a solid single and then stole second.<\/p>\n
I am currently on second base hoping to slide into third and eventually make it all the way home. We\u2019re in the bottom of the ninth. If I get all the way home we get extra innings. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re shooting for here. Another reason why I chose baseball — football and basketball have a clock and they end. Baseball doesn\u2019t. Baseball goes as long as the game is tied. Right now I am tied. I need to round the bases and score. I need, however it happens, I need to either steal third, I need to steal home. The guy hitting behind me needs to come up with something.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s what we\u2019re shooting for here is extra innings, and we want as many of them as we can get. Now, don\u2019t be alarmed by my direct mention of the first two at-bats being total failures. Well, they were both total failures, but one of them held promise. The current treatment regimen — and, folks, it\u2019s really tough because I know that you\u2019ve known people or you\u2019ve heard other people that are in media who are going through this illness or any other kind of illness. They\u2019re so eager to share with you good news that they do. And sometimes they get premature sharing the good news, and it isn\u2019t long before they have to come say, “Uh, uh, oh, we\u2019ve lost ground or it\u2019s come back” or what have you.<\/p>\n
And so I am and vowed to be very guarded with the good news because we\u2019re talking about cancer. There are good days, good weeks. There are bad days and bad weeks. This past period, this past treatment, which was a week ago tomorrow, this has been much better than I thought. I was expecting, because of the cumulative effect of the toxicity, I was expecting to be, you know, in that just debilitating fatigue for 10 days. And I wasn\u2019t. It lasted two days, Thursday and Friday. The weekend was good. But, again, anything can change rapidly and on a dime. So, it\u2019s a blessing.<\/p>\n
I believe prayer works. I know it does. It is a blessing that in my third at-bat, the last shot that I had at this, I got on base and I stole second, and I\u2019m chugging on to third, and I\u2019m very confident that I\u2019m gonna score. I\u2019m very confident that this is gonna go into extra innings. Meaning — well, you know what it means. I\u2019m trying to avoid being specific in the lingo here. And, again, that\u2019s simply because of how rapidly things can change with this kind of diagnosis.<\/p>\n
But I\u2019m feeling extremely good right now, even cautious about saying that. Who knows what tomorrow\u2019s gonna bring. Good days and bad days. But I told you I would share information with you, and I told you I would keep you abreast of it. And so that\u2019s pretty much it. That\u2019s the sum total of it. I mean, I could be even more optimistic if I wanted to because there is reason to be, but, again, when every phase and stage happens that\u2019s an improvement, I\u2019ll be sure and pass it on.<\/p>\n
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The bottom line is I\u2019m entirely capable of being here today. My energy level is great. I\u2019m doing extremely well. And I don\u2019t think anybody would mind if I told you honestly that I am doing better at this stage than I thought I was gonna be doing. But, again, folks, I know these people who\u2019ve gone through this, and they\u2019re so eager to share good news and they do, and then the next day, in some cases, or the next week they have to pull it all back because that\u2019s how rapidly things can change.<\/p>\n
But sitting here right now, I can tell you that the attitude I have is, and the way I\u2019m feeling physically, is much better than I thought I would be, particularly after the first two strikeouts. I mean, they were total failures, total strikeouts. And one of those times at bat was what we thought was the promise, one of those times at bat was where we thought the genuine, long-term answer was.<\/p>\n
And when that didn\u2019t work, it was, “Oh, no.” So the alternative has come through. It\u2019s doing well. Translation: I\u2019m responding very well to the treatment. My body overall is responding very well to the treatment that I\u2019m getting, and, you know, again, psychologically, I don\u2019t know what role psychology plays in recovery. There are people that would tell you a positive mental attitude counts for something, counts for a lot. Some would say it counts for nothing. Well, I\u2019m an optimist anyway, so I don\u2019t have to work at being optimistic.<\/p>\n
But the psychological pall that accompanies this, and particularly for people in your family, it is as tough on them as it is on the, quote, unquote, patient. And they are to be applauded for the courage that they exhibit dealing with it. It\u2019s just incredible, the support that I have and patience that people have with me. Because, if I lose control, I start blaming myself. I blame myself for ruining people\u2019s lives here. And I\u2019ll tell \u2019em that, and I apologize for it. And they say, “Nobody deserves to get what you got. You can\u2019t blame yourself for this.”<\/p>\n
The support that I\u2019ve had, particularly from my wife, is just, as I\u2019ve told you, impossible to characterize. So that\u2019s the update. The upshot of it is I\u2019ve rounded second base, I\u2019m pushing for extra innings. I gotta score. I gotta get around to home plate to tie the game and to extend the game for as many extra innings as I can. And it looks like, sitting here today, that it may happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RUSH: My body overall is responding very well to the treatment. I've rounded second base. I gotta score. I gotta get to home plate to tie the game and extend it for as many extra innings as I can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":354573,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n