From RushLimbaugh.com: The Real Story

On Wednesday, I skipped my show for a doctor's appointment. I wish I could warn you about these absences in advance, but that's just not practical, based on the crowd I would draw from the media. I want to do what I have to do to maximize the efficiency of my cochlear implant, and politely decline interviews - of which I have received thousands.

I haven't done any interviews, in part, because I have my own show where I can tell my story and my own website where we can post the story for all to see. Why do I want to sit for a four-hour interview of which the reporter may use four minutes? Why do I want to do one of those tiresome, absurd "walks along the lake." I never walk along the lake!

I also want to make sure the story gets out with all the facts, because I'm a facts-first kind of guy. So I have always come before the Golden EIB Microphone and shared with you the truth of my hearing loss - and now, of the technology to restore it. We've linked below to all the information on my situation, including the latest on having my cochlear implant "programmed" or "mapped," as I put it.

Based on my tests, I am about six to eight months ahead of the average recipient in understanding single-syllable words and multiple-word sentences. This process entails conducting a bunch of tests to determine what frequencies I hear and just how low the sound volume is before I lose it. All the testing gets put together and combined into a program or two that they then download to the processor that one wears either behind the ear or on the belt. That differs from person to person, based on your testing.

The area where I have problems is when there's a lot of room noise and I'm trying to hear words or sentences at the same time. When there's a din or a cacophonous type sound, that's where it gets tough to separate things for me. But that, supposedly, was the area of improvement they now expect to occur most rapidly for me, since I've done well in the other areas. So, all in all, it's going great.

I told you a couple days prior to this appointment that I thought there had been a marked improvement overnight, just in the clarity of voices and the absence of the tape hiss sort of sound that was accompanying my favorite of the two programs I have. The other program - which I call "the chipmunk program" because that's how everyone sounds when I use it - will probably be eliminated. Furthermore, I don't depend on lipreading at all now. It helps, especially in the crowded-room situations, but I don't depend on it.

That's the latest news on my hearing, and I thank the millions of you who have expressed concern and well wishes, said prayers and urged me on. I'll consider doing "the" interview, but in the meantime, you can get all the information you want on my radio program and this website. I hold nothing back and hide nothing else. The information is all right here, in the links below, for all to see.

SOURCE: rushlimbaugh.com