Rush Limbaugh grateful for living ‘one of the greatest lives’ as he faces ‘scary’ terminal cancer
Months after revealing he is battling terminal lung cancer, popular conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said while his journey into the “unknown” has been scary, he is thankful he has been allowed to live “one of the greatest lives anybody could have.”
“This is very hard. This circumstance I’m in, stage 4 lung cancer, this is a very, very difficult thing for members of the family. It’s scary. It’s scary for all kinds of reasons: the unknown. And it’s day-to-day scary. And yet I am greeted each day with the best efforts that everybody in my life is making to be happy and normal, while acknowledging the reality, not dwelling on it, focusing on the goodness that exists each day. And there is goodness in everything that happens. It may not be immediately apparent, but it’s there. And it’ll eventually reveal itself. It always does,” Limbaugh said on his show Tuesday.
In early February, Limbaugh, 69, shocked his 20 million fans when he revealed he had been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.
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He explained on Tuesday that since then, there have been days when he didn’t think he would live to see the next one and it was partly because of that dynamic why he decided to express his annual Christmas message of thanks a bit earlier.
“It’s normally at Christmastime that I get all sentimental and thankful about the wonderful things that have happened to me because of you and that have accrued to me and my family because of you. And I don’t know why Christmastime as opposed to Thanksgiving, but I thought I would switch it up this year and reiterate these things that I try to share with you each and every year at Christmastime or during this holiday-type season,” he said.
“This year especially has been incredible. There were days I didn’t think I would be here on this date. There were days that I thought if I was here, I wouldn’t be doing this. But I’m alive and kicking and thriving. And I think a lot of it is I’ve got the greatest support system at home that you could possibly imagine, unconditional support,” Limbaugh explained.
He praised his fans for supporting his show in record numbers before thanking them for helping him do the job he has wanted to do since he was an 8-year-old boy.
“You are listening to this program in record numbers. It’s a big deal. It’s how success is measured in this business. It’s one of two or three ways. And you are setting records. You’re setting records in two ways. The numbers of you who are listening and what is called time spent listening, how long you’re listening. It’s incredible,” he said.
“I owe so many people so much. I’m never going to be able to adequately thank the people who are responsible for one of the greatest lives anybody could have. I am doing what I was born to do.
"I have met the goals I set for myself. I’ve maintained them. And I have been able to do it all, for the most part, on my terms. It cannot get any better. I have been so thankful for the blessings that I have and to be able to share all of this with you and tell you how grateful I am, how gratified I am that you have made this possible.”
