Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh announced on his show on Monday that he had been diagnosed with “advanced lung cancer.”
“So, I have to tell you something today that I wish I didn’t have to tell you. It’s a struggle for me, because I had to inform my staff earlier today,” he said. “I can’t help but feel that I’m letting everybody down with. The upshot is that I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.”
He called it one of the most difficult days he has had in recent memory and acknowledged that he would miss some upcoming shows for treatment. However, Limbaugh did add that when he does his show it will be done as normal.
“I’m sure that you all know by now that I really don’t like talking about myself and I don’t like making things about me,” he said. “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.”
Limbaugh’s diagnosis was confirmed by two medical institutions and he first became concerned that something could be wrong on Jan. 12 after he experienced a shortness of breath. He said he considered not making the diagnosis public.
“I told the staff today that I have a deeply personal relationship with god that I do not proselytize about, but I do, and I have been working that relationship tremendously,” he said. “I am, at the moment, experiencing zero symptoms.”