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<\/p>\nRUSH: You know, I want to take a minute here, \u2019cause it struck me. We\u2019ve 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\u2019s been a while. I haven\u2019t 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\u2019s “bleeding on the audience.” Meaning, I\u2019m not gonna come here and complain.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not gonna come here and make whatever\u2019s going on with me the only thing that matters to me or anybody else. I\u2019ve 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\u2019re doing, you could be honest, you could tell them, “Well, I\u2019m doing this, doing that, not doing well here,” they won\u2019t even hear you. They can\u2019t wait to tell you what\u2019s going on with them.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s a radio show here to do each and every day, and that\u2019s why people tune in to listen to it.<\/p>\n
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The second thing is, it\u2019s a matter of, you know, once you go down that road, you create expectations, and people will want to hear more, and then there is the privacy angle of it all. But more than that is that I\u2019m not the only one that\u2019s going through hardships, challenging times. And I just refuse to act like I am the only one. And I refuse to act like the only thing you care about is what\u2019s going on with me. I just do not have that kind of personality or attitude.<\/p>\n
But at the same it\u2019s been a while, because of all that, that we\u2019ve updated you. And I know you\u2019re out there praying for me. It\u2019s unbelievably humbling to know how many — it\u2019s gotta be in the millions of people who are actively praying. Many of you are signifying for us how you\u2019re doing so. We\u2019ve got all kinds of opportunity for people at RushLimbaugh.com and other Web pages that people can weigh in — Twitter now, Facebook. I just don\u2019t like to talk about it often \u2019cause I don\u2019t want to be a cancer patient on the radio.<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s another thing too. Folks, it\u2019s 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\u2019s not true today.” I don\u2019t want to put you through that. I don\u2019t want to put myself through it. But I know you\u2019re concerned. So, it is time. I do want to provide you with a brief and honest update.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t 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\u2019t lung cancer, it\u2019s some kind of cancer. If it isn\u2019t you, it\u2019s somebody really close to you. If it isn\u2019t an illness, it\u2019s something. We\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n
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From the moment you get the diagnosis, there\u2019s a part of you every day, okay, that\u2019s it. Life\u2019s over. You just don\u2019t know when. But when you get that diagnosis, I mean, that\u2019s… 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.<\/p>\n
And at some point you can decide, you know, this medication may be working, but I hate the way I feel every day. I\u2019m not there yet. But it is part and parcel of this. It\u2019s tough to realize that the days where I do not think I\u2019m under a death sentence are over. Now, we all are, is the point. We all know that we\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t 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\u2019s my phrase for it. We had stopped the growth. It had been reduced, and it had become manageable.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Stage 1 is just a bunch of little nodules running around, and even if you got a scan that showed a bunch of nodules, they\u2019d say, “Gotta keep a sharp eye on them. There\u2019s some nodules here, some nodules there.” But it really doesn\u2019t present as what it is (this type of cancer) until it\u2019s stage 4 — and stage 4 is, as they say, terminal. So we have some recent progression. It\u2019s not dramatic, but it is the wrong direction.<\/p>\n
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So we have to tweak the treatment plan, which we did, and the chemotherapy drugs in hopes of keeping additional progression at bay for as long as possible. The idea now is to keep it where it is or maybe have it reduce again. We\u2019ve shown that that is possible. If it happened once, it can happen again. So that\u2019s the objective of the current treatment plan.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t gonna make it.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s where I am, stuck on second base — fully committed, however, to stealing third and rounding towards home.<\/p>\n
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\u2019m 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\u2019s still true.<\/p>\n
You know, I wake up every day and thank God that I did. I go to bed every night praying I\u2019m gonna wake up. I don\u2019t 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\u2019s a blessing when you wake up. It\u2019s a stop-everything-and-thank-God moment.<\/p>\n
And every day, thus, results in me feeling more and more blessed. Hearing from you, knowing that you\u2019re out there praying and everything else you\u2019re doing, that is a blessing. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
I know a lot of you out there are going through your own challenges, whether it\u2019s 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\u2019s why I thank God every morning when I wake up.<\/p>\n
I thank God that I did. I try to make it the best day I can no matter what. I don\u2019t look too far ahead. I certainly don\u2019t look too far back. I try to remain committed to the idea what\u2019s supposed to happen, will happen when it\u2019s meant to. I mentioned at the outset of this — the first day I told you — that I have personal relationship with Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
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It is of immense value, strength, confidence, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m able to remain fully committed to the idea that what is supposed to happen will happen when it\u2019s meant to. There\u2019s some comfort in knowing that some things are not in our hands. There\u2019s a lot of fear associated with that, too, but there is some comfort. It\u2019s helpful… God, is it helpful. It\u2019s helpful to be able to trust and to believe in a higher plan.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s to rounding third and heading towards home. That\u2019s the objective. That\u2019s the goal.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what we\u2019re fully focused on in terms of treatment and behavior.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what we\u2019re looking forward to.<\/p>\n
So there\u2019s the update. I\u2019m sorry it\u2019s been so long since the last one, but it really wasn\u2019t necessary until this time to give you because there hadn\u2019t been anything of substantive change since the treatment week of last week. Thank you again, folks. I can\u2019t tell you how much your being there every day matters — and, by the way, your being there…<\/p>\n
You would not believe the audience numbers! You would not believe that\u2019s happening out there that you are making happen. The biggest, largest Radio Rally in the history of anything turned out (chuckles) to be exactly that. It was humongous — and the normal, everyday ratings are through the roof. Our computer model projections are through the roof.<\/p>\n
Of course, there is the requirement to meet the expectations of everybody tuning in for just those expectations, for the expectations to be met, and I\u2019m here to provide that, and it is a blessing to be able to come here and give it a shot every day. So thank you for being here. Thank you for all of the assistance and prayers and other types of support that you are making known.<\/p>\n
BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n
RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, let me share one more thing with you — and I don\u2019t want to be morbid here. But to me, this is the ultimate good news — the ultimate upbeat, positive way to react to what\u2019s happening. Late January, whenever it was, is when I got this diagnosis. Folks, the kind of cancer I have…<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve never publicized what it is. It\u2019s just stage 4 lung cancer. But let me just put it to you this way: It was hopeless. It was absolutely hopeless. Yet a treatment regimen was begun, and the first two of them failed. (chuckling) I mean, big-time failed. The third one? Magic! It worked. That\u2019s where we were able, over the course of months, to render the cancer dormant.<\/p>\n
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I\u2019ll just put it to you this way: After receiving the diagnosis, I never thought I would see October 1st. I never thought I would. When October 1st hit on the calendar this year, I reminded myself of that — of that thought. If we go back to the end of January, early part of February when I was first told of my diagnosis and the reaction…<\/p>\n
The doctor said, “If you don\u2019t do anything, we\u2019re looking here at a couple of months. If you look at treatment, if it works, we\u2019re looking at…” And then they wouldn\u2019t give me a time. They still won\u2019t. They won\u2019t do that. But I\u2019m just gonna tell you, there is no way back in January and February that I had anything but hope that I would still be alive on this day, October 19th, and that I would be fully productive working.<\/p>\n
There was no way. I didn\u2019t share that with anybody. So given that as a starting point, given that as a baseline, I\u2019m kicking butt — and the future remains pretty good-looking, given all of that. This is why I say that I always try to keep everything in perspective on a day-to-day basis and to realize that you just don\u2019t know. Nobody does, and you have to give every day…<\/p>\n
You know, I\u2019ve loved to point out we all only get one life. We don\u2019t get a do-over in the… Well, we do. Actually, we get a do-over every day if we choose to look at it that way. Once we\u2019re old enough and mature enough to understand what life is and that there is only one, then you do get do-overs, an opportunity to fix what you think you might not have done so well the day before, which is an operative philosophy of mine.<\/p>\n
But the fact that I have that option and that opportunity compared to where I thought I would be at this time? I mean, that\u2019s “go get the hallelujah chorus and have \u2019em start singing to me,” because that\u2019s exactly where this is — and the future? Far more optimistic than pessimistic, attitudinally, to me, because of the support systems I have, the people that are helping me, family. Ooh! Anyway, that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RUSH: Thank you for being here. Thank you for all of the assistance and prayers and other types of support that you are making known.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":369277,"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