Rush Limbaugh goes deaf: Talk radio giant makes dramatic announcement to audience

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Tuesday, October 9, 2001

[Gumption County]

This situation is incredibly tragic. But I know that Rush will find a way to overcome this loss. Somehow.

Rush's thinking will not be affected. His speech abilities can be maintained. There are ways of communicating with callers. And maybe the cochlear implant will, in the end, prove to be the solution.

What's most important, however, is whether Rush continues to have fun, because that is what makes his show uniquely enjoyable in the universe of conservative talk radio.

If he can't hear the Shanklin parodies, if he can't wail along to "Una Poloma Blanca", if he can't share his passion for music (such as at Christmas when he features Mannhein Steamroller), if he can't enjoy the environmental wacko updates with the falling timber and the automatic weapon fire, or the SUV "In A Yugo" song, I wonder if he will truely enjoy his work.

Knowing Rush, he'll find a way to the humor and the fun. And I'm confident that decent people, those who listen to his show and appreciate the high quality of production and craftsmanship, will provide him with plenty of support and running room as he embarks upon what appears to be a terribly difficult artistic transformation.

[InvisibleChurch]

that Rush was able to do his show while deaf is inspirational ... may God keep blessing him ... and us

[noah]

I pray that through this RUSH will HEAR the "still small voice" of the GOD WHO IS THERE and come to know HIM personally as JESUS the KING OF THE UNIVERSE.

[OzarkRepub]

How long will doctors try drug therapy to stabilize or improve the situation? What kind of time frame do you usually see before going with the Cochlear implants?

Pray for Rush and his doctors. There is hope! I for one, will continue to listen as long as Rush is willing to talk to me.

[ravingnutter]

It is likely that he suffers from an autoimmune hearing loss, in which the body's immune system attacks the inner ear (similar to rheumatoid arthritis, where the body's immune system attacks the cartilage in a joint).

Would I be correct to assume this is Ménière's disease? My sister is afflicted with that disease and has lost the hearing in both ears, she was an RN, the disease ended her career.

[spectre]

Did you forget to add "sarcasm mode off"?....:~)sw

[j.havenfarm]

Huh?

[ravingnutter]

Cochlear implant surgery is extremely successful but we generally hold off until we are quite convinced that we can't preserve whatever residual hearing a patient still has.

They are requiring my sister buy hearing aids just to prove to them that she can't use them...I think that is ridiculous. She is totally homebound now...can't drive and also can't answer the phone, we have to communicate with her via e-mail. That really bites in emergencies, such as when my dad was ill and died recently and now my mom is in a deep depression, we are worried sick about her and my sister is the only one close, I am 800 miles away. I just don't understand why they cannot just do the surgery. My sympathies go out to Rush and his family, it is very difficult to live with, as we have found out first hand.

[rodeocowboy]

Rush,

I say retire. I have always loved your show and have agreed with most things that you've said. But, maybe this is a sign to move on. But that is just my opinion.

One more opinion, if I may be so bold. Allow Sean Hannity to take over your show. He could work for EIB and pay royalties. Now you can play all of the golf you want and know that you have found a more-than-worthy replacement.

Sincerley,
RodeoCowboy-DeTour Village, MI

[keeper53]

You really can't stand Jerry Falwell,huh?you seem quite obsessed with trying to ridicule him...I'm starting to feel sorry for you...

[Artem55]

I'm surprised that a Medrol Dosepak would be the first response. Seems that a larger dose of steroid would be in order. Thanks for the reply.

[cantfindagoodscreenname]

Whatever he did, he has his exact voice back again.

I didn't notice any change in his voice when everyone else here did. But, today I couldn't believe how bad his voice was! I felt so bad for him and cringed as his voice cracked and sounded so nasaly. You didn't hear any of that? I hope I was the only one who thought he sounded different.

[ottersnot]

I heard the same thing. HE sounded horrible to me. Didn't have that booming voice I love to hear skewering libs.
I turned up the bass really high on my radio and that helped a little. So Sad.

[cantfindagoodscreenname]

Tonight I played the clip of Rush talking to the woman about anthrax and we noticed his delayed response to the things she was saying. He would repeat her words a few seconds after she said them (as if he was reading them, which he was) and then he'd laugh or comment. It was very disconcerting. But, on the other hand, I believe that Rush is tough and will eventually master this. It is sad, though. I agree.

[Dahoser]

There was a distinct difference in his voice today, even from how it sounded yesterday. I don't know if it's because he told us yesterday and was on a letdown, or they monkeyed with the levels to compensate. I also noticed that it was close to normal when he read something, but went way off when he was freely speaking and especially when he got excited. Very sad. While I think he can deal with incoming calls using interpreters/close captioning and having them summarize rather than relay it all verbatim, I'm afraid of him losing his voice if today is any indication. I hope it's just a phase as he adjusts.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

WND did not post the entire transcript. The reason Rush sounds normal again is because his engineers have electronically altered his voice, making his pitch a bit higher. He didn't go into how they were doing this. This has the effect of taking years off his voice, making him sound younger again.

People were complaining so much about his voice the past few weeks. The problem is that he couldn't hear the sound of his own voice, so it has been sounding odd. Now that it is electronically altered, it sounds better. I hope they keep it this way, since so many people seem pleased with it. But if he wants to go back to his normal voice, that's OK, too.