‘I Don't Want To Be a Cancer Patient On The Radio:’ Rush Limbaugh Reminds Us Of the Mental Impact Cancer Can Have on Those Battling

Related: Radio Host Rush Limbaugh, 69, Offers Emotional Update About Advanced Lung Cancer Battle: 'It Can Feel Like a Roller Coaster You Can't Get Off Of'

The reason that Limbaugh doesn’t constantly update fans on his health is understandable. During his announcement, he shared that he refuses to “bleed on the audience” and focus on himself when others are battling cancer like him. Additionally, since he’s known as a radio personality, he doesn’t want people to view him just as a cancer patient despite his diagnosis.

“I have vowed that I was not going to treat my lung cancer diagnosis as an opportunity to bleed on the audience, to either complain or constantly update,” Limbaugh says. “The reason for it is that, first and foremost, there's a radio show here to do each and every day, and that's why people tune in to listen to it…I just don't like to talk about it often 'cause I don't want to be a cancer patient on the radio.”

Testicular cancer survivor Matthew Zachary talks feeling seen as a person, not just a patient

Coming to Terms with Cancer

After a diagnosis, emotions such as anxiety, anger, fear, and sadness is completely common and expected. Even though cancer treatment typically takes the spotlight during a person’s cancer journey, emotional well-being is also important. Coming to terms with a diagnosis is a process, and talking about it can be difficult for some. However, accepting yourself while facing cancer can be one of the best ways to lift your spirits.

What the task becomes is having the courage to live in the face of uncertainty, realizing that you cannot necessarily control the uncertainty in life, the suffering that occurs, limitations, challenges both good and bad

“What the task becomes is having the courage to live in the face of uncertainty, realizing that you cannot necessarily control the uncertainty in life, the suffering that occurs, limitations, challenges both good and bad,” Dr. William Breitbart, Chief of the Psychiatry Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, tells SurvivorNet. “You may not be able to control those, but you have control over how you choose to response to them and the attitudes you take towards them.”

Related: Learn to Forgive Yourself Dealing With the Psychological Aspects of Cancer

By accepting that we can’t control everything in our life, the next step is being vulnerable. Once diagnosed, it’s not uncommon that some people may feel ashamed of their disease, and don’t want to share it with others. However, Limbaugh’s honesty about his treatment process is a step in the right direction. Instead of hiding his disease out of shame, Limbaugh is putting himself out there as a cancer warrior, not a cancer patient.

“Shame comes from this sense of vulnerability There’s something wrong with me because I’m human and I’m susceptible to illness, and now I have an illness. Now I have cancer,” Dr. Breitbart tells SurvivorNet in a separate interview. “What I will often point out to people is that we have the ability to choose how we respond to this vulnerability. We can be ashamed of it. Or we can use it to create a sense of empathy.”

Dr. William Breitbart explains how vulnerability is an important step in one’s cancer journey

What is Advanced Lung Cancer?

Advanced lung cancer refers to when the disease is in later stages, such as stage 3 or 4. When cancer is considered advanced, it means it has spread to other parts of the body such as the brain, liver, or bones. In Limbaugh’s case, he’s currently battling stage 4 lung cancer, and his treatment options may be different than those with diagnosed with earlier stages of the disease.

Related: Treatment for Stage Four Lung Cancer

“Stage 4 lung cancer means that beyond the disease you can see in the chest and the bone and the liver and the brain, there is invariably invisible metastatic disease, and we don’t know which of these spots is going to make you sick,” Dr. Geoffrey Oxnard, former thoracic oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, tells SurvivorNet. “We don’t know if it’s the small brain tumor that might give you stroke or seizure symptoms. Or it’s a hidden liver spot that’s going to make your liver become injured and fatigued and nauseated with time. So stage 4 means, treat the whole body. Visible and invisible spots.”

Dr. Geoffrey Oxnard breaks down the basics of stage 4 lung cancer

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