NEW TAG LINE: "Fighting 'liberals' with both ears tied behind my back, just to make it fair."

I hope all these stupid yahoo's on this forum who have been complaining about Rush voice are now quite ashamed of themselves.

Doctors have said suggested a cochlear implant as a last resort, something Limbaugh said would require brain surgery.

Been there, done that. Cochlear implants aren't a big deal, he's possibly blowing it out of proportion with the "brain surgery". Or at least so I hope, if he's suffering from ossification then he's in a spot o' trouble.

May have to e-mail Rush and put my 2 cents in. The cochlear implant changed my life. It's been nothing short of miraculous for me, really. I'm open to questions for any implant investigators.

OK, now I'm just trying to examine all the options, not trying to start a tinfoil conspiracy, but is there any way that hearing loss can be purposely induced by another person? No, not the obvious of exposing someone to very loud noises or an explosion, but rather a biological, chemical, or other stealth method?

I doubt that this could be the case, innocent people lose their hearing all the time, that's just nature. But given the situation, its only prudent to explore all possibilities.

Thanks for any info.

Rush has just announced that they are putting the announcement on the website at RushLimbaugh.Com. That's great for those (like me) that didn't happen to be listening when Rush made the announcement.

I have been noting many of the observations over the past few months and, while some said he sounded a bit "pompous", most seemed (understandably) curious and many said they were concerned. Let's not dish out the guilt to everyone who commented.

Let's just focus on, and pray for, Rush.

For those who can't get on Rush's site XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX MON OCT 08, 2001 13:06:09 ET XXXXX WORLD'S MOST-LISTENED TO VOICE ANNOUNCES: I AM DEAF; RUSH LIMBAUGH VOWS TO CONTINUE In mid-career, musical magician Beethoven went deaf. He would continue to write. Producing some of his best music. "I have lost my ability to hear. I have not lost my ability to communicate," the modern world's most-listened to voice, Rush Limbaugh, announced to his radio audience on Monday. Immediate shock spread throughout the communication industry. For the past 3 month, Limbaugh has been steadily losing his hearing. "I am, for all practical purposes, deaf," Limbaugh revealed. Limbaugh's show is heard on over 600 stations, he commands an audience of more than 22 million a week. TRANSCRIPT: The Rush Limbaugh Show, Monday, October 8, 2001. HOUR 2. RUSH: Now, as I mentioned at the beginning of the program, I had intended to start today's program telling you what I'm about to tell you. The outbreak of our attack on Osama bin Laden made it necessary to deal with that and bring everybody up to speed first on that and to place that in perspective. But I have, throughout my career, at least as far as this program is concerned, now into its 14th year, have been as up front and candid with all of you, first, as possible, as opposed to, say, calling a press conference to announce something or doing it in some other way. The relationship that I have always enjoyed with you is one I consider to be familial, and I see evidence of it each and every time I venture out in public, and I've been overawed by that, I will never take it for granted. And around Christmastime and Thanksgiving time, I always try to make an effort to express my gratitude and thanks for how much your support has meant. Because so many people have told me over the course of the years how much this show has meant to them, because, when it started, there was nothing like it in the national media. There were all sorts of liberal talk shows, both TV and radio, but they were at night, and the people who think as you and I do had to endure being laughed at and made fun of and impugned on a daily basis. And finally here came a guy, Rush Limbaugh, who didn't tell you what to think but simply reflected what you already thought, what you already believed, validated what you already thought and believed. That made you feel confident, and you relished the fact that the show was there and you made no bones about expressing that. And there was never any market research. We didn't survey the market before the program started and say "what's missing out there," and try to fill the void, and then come up with decisions. "Hey, there's no conservatism in national radio. Let's go do that." That's not at all what happened. We just decided to try something based on a passion and do it. And the passion to do it continues. That's the first thing that I want you to understand. The passion to get up every day -- I talked a moment ago about pursuing happiness and how I was going to be mentioning this a lot in the coming days and weeks. Well, I've been doing a lot of soul-searching this past summer because of some things that have happened to me, that have caused me to redefine what's meaningful and what is happy and important and what's not. Simply put, I noticed on the 29th of May, I'll never forget the date, that I could not hear anything in my left ear. So I went to the doctor. They assumed it was earwax as they always do. I'm 50 years old. And took my oral history and found out that there's some genetic hearing loss in my family, and immediately chalked it up to that. The bottom line is, from May 29th up until about, I'd say, ten days ago, I lost hearing every five days, to the point, ladies and gentlemen, I'm now totally deaf in my left ear. I cannot hear a thing in my left ear, with hearing aids, the most powerful made, mean nothing. I have the ability to recognize sound but not identify it in my right ear. I cannot communicate with people. I can occasionally talk to people in person one on one if their voice frequency happens to fit the range that I can still hear, but I cannot hear radio, I cannot hear television, I cannot hear music. I am, for all practical purposes, deaf, and it's happened in three months. I have been to what I learned were the finest doctors and clinics throughout the country, focusing on one, and every effort has been made to stabilize the loss, with the hope of restoring it. No success has been reported, in either stabilizing it or losing it -- or restoring it. Now, all during this summer, the loss, even though rapid, by the middle of July, for example, I was told that from the end of May to the middle of July I had lost what the average person loses in 15 years, in terms of hearing. Hearing aids are of such improved quality today that they accommodated the loss. My hearing wasn't normal, but I could function. I could have one on one conversations -- I could do everything but listen to music. Music was just a mass of noise, I was unable to hear it. I still don't know music. I haven't been able to recognize a song I'm hearing since the middle of July. I have been able, though, to get powerful enough hearing aids to where I can communicate one on one with people and, up until about ten days ago, was able to listen to things on radio and TV, but I can no longer do that, and the odds are that within another month or so, if the pattern keeps up, I will be entirely deaf, 100% so, and at that point a decision has to be made as to what to do about it, because my desire is to continue doing this, and there are an infinite number of ways of continuing. I mean I'm doing this program today, ladies and gentlemen, in effect, total deafness. I have taken two phone calls today and have not heard a word any of the callers said to me. I'm not going to explain to you how we're doing this. Put two and two together, if you wish, but as long as the passion exists to do it, then we'll find a way, because -- I'm at that point now, this is where I am. What do I do about it? Now, I've been luckier than most people will ever be in life, I can retire if I wanted to and not suffer. I don't have a worry in the world when it comes to finances. That's how fortunate I've been. And as such, I have options. That's, again, getting back to what I was referring to earlier when I talkte 99% of the people who do it. Or, if I want to take phone calls, we'll find a way to do that. In fact, we already have. And that's what I was doing all last week was rehearsing ways in which to conduct this program in a way that would allow me to perform in such a way that it would meet and hopefully continue to surpass the expectations that you have. So that's my challenge is how to structure this in such a way as to continue to be able to do it at the highest levels, my desire, my expectations, and yours, without dwelling on on (inaudible) is the relate, it's happened, and -- I mean there are things that are being done. I am -- you would not believe the medication that is flowing through me in an attempt to reverse this. There is a theory as to what's happening, but I'm -- I'm going to keep that to myself. It is not genetic. There's something more going on than that. I have been through every conceivable medical test and exam this summer you can imagine. All those times that you thought I was on vacation or playing golf, I've been in an MRI machine or getting blood drawn, or on a stress EKG machine or at a cardiologist, wherever, hearing aid doctor, the hearing doctor, where have you. The only thing that is really going to change is that I may have to be absent a day here and a day there, more so than I would like, just in order to see the doctors. Now, if it eventuates that the medication that is literally -- I mean I'm popping pills, I'm shooting up stuff, I've never done stuff like this before. If this stuff doesn't work, then there is one other option that is relatively new, but it's not something that has been done enough to where a pattern has been established to say that it's acceptable. There's always the last resort, the cochlear implant, it's the last thing they do because it's irreversible, once do you that you're finished, and if it doesn't work, then nothing they can do to go back and put you back the way you were. So you must wait until you are entirely deaf for approval for this. I mean the FDA even gets involved in this because it's surgery which involves the brain. I have not yet spoken to people who have received cochlear implants, but I've talked to a number of doctors who say that it would be an improvement over the situation I'm in now. To describe for you the way I hear things now, I understand what I'm saying, but I think it's more because I know what I'm going to say, rather than I'm actually hearing it. I feel it, I feel the vocal vibrations in my skull, but in terms of actually hearing what I say, that -- I don't really -- I don't know if I am or not. Other people, depending on their voice range, if they're loud and speak slowly enough and are close enough to me, then I can hear them, but this is relatively new. The past ten days it's been this case. Ten days ago, two weeks ago I was able to conduct a normal conversation, just a couple of times, "Say that again, please?" But now it's deteriorated to the point that, for all clinical, practical purposes, if I take the right-side hearing aid out, I do not hear a single thing -- zip, zero, nada. I don't -- I don't hear smoke alarms. You know how loud they are. I don't hear -- I've tested the loudest things that I could find to see if I hear them, and I don't. Now, I do hear certain sounds, frequencies. I hear myself walking on a concrete floor. I hear the toilet handle flush now and then. But when it comes to the human voice, I hear not enough to have any kind of a productive conversation with anybody. That doesn't mean that I cannot continue to do what I love doing here. It's just a matter of finding out how and the best way to do it. ----------------------------------------------------------- Filed By Matt Drudge Reports are moved when circumstances warrant http://www.drudgereport.com for updates (c)DRUDGE REPORT 2001 Not for reproduction without permission of the author

I suspected something was wrong with Rush, with all the time he's spent off-the-air, the weight loss, moving to Florida, his voice changing, etc. I'm not an M.D. but I suspect his hearing loss has to do with too many years under headphones and possibly the stress of living the life he's led. He hasn't had an easy time of it, abusing his body along the way and maybe this is how he's paying for it.

My wife and I will say a prayer for him tonight before bed. We owe him at least that much for so many years of quality entertainment.

Do e-mail all of your information to Rush, including the names of your doctors and everything else pertinent.

I'm so glad your surgery was successful, and I'm sure we'll all pray for Rush.

Paragraphs are good. I like paragraphs.

The odd thing about deafness is that many people think it is funny and will laugh in the face of someone who is deaf. It is a staple for sitcoms. There is nothing funny to those afflicted. Relatives are often the worse. Wives complain their husbands don't listen to them but do listen to their male friends (natural...high tones are lost first). Husbands say, "she can hear me when she wants to" (natural again...being deaf is like listening through a wall. Listening takes a lot of effort, effort which can't be maintained all the time).

Many also think shouting is the answer and it is not. One not only loses the ability to hear sound but to decipher sound. Amplify words so a person with a loss can hear them and they still won't be able to distinguish between "door" and "floor." A person with the loss Rush now has will be lucky to comprehend 3 out of 4 words even with amplification.

For the past four years following cataract surgery on my left eye I experienced intense burning on my left eye ;id and socket. Trip after trip to the optometrist and my eye specialist yielded no relieve or explanation for the condition.

When I started waking up with both arms numb about three months ago it sent me to the chiropractor. In the exam process one of the test produced the exact burning I was experiencing in my eye, only more intense.

Turns out I had a pinched nerve in my neck causing this eye condition. I've also experienced a numb ear with deminished hearing for short periods of time in the past couple of years.

Pinched nerves can also effect hearing it seems. It's worth a trip to the chiropractor if other medical reasons have been ruled out. (He has mentioned backaches in his endorsement for the air mattress)

Some blood pressure meds also may cause hearing loss.

I have been noting many of the observations over the past few months and, while some said he sounded a bit "pompous", most seemed (understandably) curious and many said they were concerned. Let's not dish out the guilt to everyone who commented.

I generally ignore the Rush threads because they ALWAYS end up in a slugfest. Rush has done this country a great service. I have never and will never complain about him. If you have commented and complained about him then you have every right to feel guilty about it.

Can you tell us about your implant? How was the surgery? How does it work? How does your hearing compare with what you had?

Here is one of many articles on Cochlear Implants. Please be advised that it is not surgery on the BRAIN. Click Here

There was an article in the LA Times about a month ago linking Vicodin to "profound hearing loss". Vicodin contains acetomeniphine (Tylenol) and codeine.

The people at a local Institute for the Deaf have been observing an increasing number of people in their middle years who became increasingly deaf over a period of just a few months. Heavy Vicodin use was the common denominator. Apparently, some people take large doses of Vicodin daily for long periods of time to combat severe pain (such as from knee injuries). The hearing loss is progressive, but once it begins it always leads to complete deafness, whether the person immediately discontinues the Vicodin or not.

Note that the problem occurs in heavy users of Vicodine. The occasional use Vicodine isn't a problem. I don't want to alarm people.

Rush is the MASTER! Master of American talk radio, patriotism, and conservatism. This is a sad day...... Cochlear surgery is very intricate and dangerous and the odds against it's effectiveness are said to be unfavorable. Let's let Rush know just how much he inspires us!

Deafness will not stop the sane voice many of us have listened to and learned from over the years. Because of what the man is made up of, it will probably not even slow him down.

Did any of you hear the call-in who was outraged over questions asked by Julie Woodruff? Is that woman off the bubble or what? CNN, she is your death knell, there are just too many people out there who watch you that will not put up with her kind of out of focus remarks. Ms. Woodruff is just another empty-headed socialist looking for the Utopia promised by her progressive-activist college instructors.

I doubt Rush would want anyone to withdrawl any legitimate intellectual challenges to anything he has said. Whether it's liberals or a Pat Buchanan supporter, I sure he wouldn't want to turn away any challengers to his views. Victimhood is not in his belief system.