Rush will meet this challenge too

Cape Girardeans joined millions of Americans last week in registering shock, surprise and sympathy at the news that native son Rush Limbaugh, at age 50, has suffered a catastrophic hearing loss over the last four months.

Limbaugh disclosed Tuesday to his unmatched national audience that he is, "for all practicable purposes, deaf," with no hearing at all in his left ear and only 20 to 30 percent of normal hearing in his right ear. Limbaugh's doctors believe the hearing loss to be the result of autoimmune inner-ear disease, a rare condition in which the nerve that permits hearing is attacked by the body's immune system.

Those same doctors, at a world-class Los Angeles clinic, hold out hope that the hearing Rush still has can be preserved. They also say he may be a candidate for cochlear implant surgery, a procedure that can likely restore much if not all the hearing Limbaugh has lost.

A devastating blow? To be sure. Any otherwise healthy person would so regard it.

But in carving out his unique career, Limbaugh has long since vanquished many a foe, overcome many an obstacle. Those of us who know the Limbaugh family and who count them among our cherished friends will recognize this as another in that long line. The Rush we have known these 50 years will find a way to persevere, to overcome, to transcend.

In the challenges that lie ahead he has our heartfelt best wishes and our earnest prayers for his best possible outcome. There are literally tens of millions of Americans who join us in these sentiments.