Posted on 01/03/2002 10:11:59 AM PST by kattracks
Talk radio megastar Rush Limbaugh returned to his regular three-hour daily broadast on Thursday for the first time since undergoing cochlear implant brain surgery on Dec. 19 to restore his hearing.
"The surgery went well," the upbeat-sounding Limbaugh told his audience. "In fact, the doctor said that it went spectacularly well."
Still, the legendary talker cautioned that the ultimate success of the operation - whether or not it restores his hearing - won't be known for some time.
"No two implant patients are the same," he explained. "So there's no way of predicting." Limbaugh noted that half of all implant recipients are still unable to use the phone - a crucial part of his job as a talk host.
Limbaugh said he asked his doctor, "Can I read anything into to future performance of the implant in hearing you say the surgery went spectacularly well?"
"No, not really," came the response. "It just means that there were no boney protrusions. All 16 electrodes were seated firmly, very well, and tested flawlessly."
The talk host added jovially, "He did say that my skull was the hardest he ever tried to saw through in his entire career."
But despite his words of caution, the famed talker indicated that some of his hearing had already returned.
"You turn this (implant) on and you hear every little thing.... Then you've got to learn to distinguish those sounds from voices your hearing. And then you've got to try and figure out the words."
He described his first week after the surgery as "a big challenge."
"It was a pretty quick recovery. I guess maybe five or six days to get over the major aspects of the dizziness and the discomfort associated with an incision. Bandages were removed after about ten days or so."
Coming out of one commercial break during his first hour back on the air, Limbaugh joked, "On the cutting edge of societal evolution, Rush Limbaugh - still with half my brain tied behind my back just to make it fair. And that's, by the way, after brain surgery."
I like Roger Hedgecock too, BTW. Of course Rush is DA' MAN. Nobody even comes close.
If he ever fills in for Rush he should interview Marty Meehan.
I heard Hedgecock a couple of times -- apparently his idea of reasoned debate is to shout down and insult anybody who disagrees with him.
He's got a long history: while mayor of San Diego, he was convicted of conspiracy and perjury in a campaign finance scandal, and resigned on 12/3/85, just before being sentenced.
Yeah and they would have the surgery done at their Proctologists.
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