Rush Limbaugh: I have 'advanced lung cancer'

Rush Limbaugh (video screenshot courtesy RushLimbaugh.com)

PALM BEACH, Florida -- Broadcast legend Rush Limbaugh has advanced lung cancer, the talk-radio giant announced during his Monday broadcast.

"I have to tell you something that I wish I didn't have to tell you. And it's a struggle for me because I had to inform my staff earlier today" Limbaugh somberly said.

"I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer."

"I wish I didn't have to tell you this because I don't like making things about me."

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Hear audio of Limbaugh's announcement:

Here's the audio of Rush Limbaugh announcing on his show that he has lung cancer. pic.twitter.com/V60pAOpf68

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) February 3, 2020

Limbaugh said the diagnosis was confirmed by two medical institutions back on Jan. 20, and that he first realized something was wrong on his 69th birthday Jan. 12.

"I am at the moment experiencing zero symptoms ... my heart's in great shape," explaining he had noticed a shortness of breath that prompted seeking medical attention. "It's not [my heart], it was a pulmonary problem that was a malignancy."

President Donald J. Trump is introduced on stage by radio personality Rush Limbaugh Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019, to address Turning Point USA's 5th annual Student Action Summit at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead)

"There are going to be days that I'm not gonna be able to be here because I'm undergoing treatment or I'm reacting to treatment, and I know that that would inspire all kinds of curiosity with people wondering what's going on. And the worst thing that can happen is when there is something going on and you try to hide it and cover it up. It's eventually gonna leak, and then people are gonna say, 'Why didn’t you just say it? Why’d you try to fool everybody?'  It's not that I want to fool anybody. It's just that I don't want to burden anybody with it, and I haven’t wanted to. I don't want to burden anybody with it. It is what it is. I'm the mayor of Realville.

"So this has happened, and my intention is to come here every day I can and to do this program as normally and as competently and as expertly as I do each and every day, because that is the source of my greatest satisfaction professionally, personally."

"I told the staff today that I have a deeply personal relationship with God that I do not proselytize about and I have been working that relationship tremendously, which I do regularly anyway, but I've been focused on it intensely for the past couple of weeks."

Limbaugh said he would be gone the next couple of days "to find out the course of action," adding, "We've got a great bunch of doctors, a great team assembled. We're at full-speed ahead on this, and it's just now a matter of implementing what we are gonna be told later this week. So I'll be back here.

He hopes to return to the air on Thursday.

"You just want to push ahead and just keep things as normal as you possibly can. ... Know that every day I'm not here, I'll be thinking about you and missing you."

President Donald Trump, left, golfs with professional golfer Lexi Thompson and talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh (White House photo)

"A lot of people have been very nice telling me how much this program has meant to them. But whatever that is, it pales in comparison to what you all have meant to me. And I can't describe this. But I know you're there every day. I can see you. It’s strange how, but I know you're there. I know you're there in great numbers, and I know that you understand everything I say. The rest of the world may not when they hear it expressed a different way, but I know that you do. You've been one of the greatest sources of confidence that I've had in my life. So I hope I will be talking about this as little as necessary in the coming days."

"One thing that I know, that has happened over the 31-plus years of this program is that there has been an incredible bond that had developed between all of you and me. It is a family-type relationship to me. ... This job has provided me the greatest satisfaction and happiness than I ever experienced."

Bo Snerdley, Limbaugh's longtime producer, posted a call to prayer on Twitter, saying: "Those of you who are listening to the Rush Limbaugh show now. Pray with us. Thank you. God Bless you Rush Limbaugh. Love you so much Rush."

Those of you who are listening to the Rush Limbaugh show now. Pray with us. Thank you. God Bless you Rush Limbaugh. Love you so much Rush.

— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) February 3, 2020

Health challenges are nothing new to Limbaugh, who has overcome an addiction to pain-killing drugs and also went deaf. He has since had some of his hearing restored through the use of a cochlear implant.

He is a New York Times No. 1 best-selling author on more than one occasion, having written blockbusters including "The Way Things Ought to Be" and "See, I Told You So."

Rush Revere and his talking horse, Liberty, are time travelers created by Rush Limbaugh.

More recently, he's authored a series of books for children, featuring a "Rush Revere" character based on himself and a wise-cracking, time-traveling horse named "Liberty."

Rush Limbaugh wears shades to go unnoticed as he samples his own book at a bookstore in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (courtesy RushLimbaugh.com)

Limbaugh and his wife, Kathryn, have been using those books to educate children about the positive truth of American history that is often ignored or suppressed in government schools.

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