More Tests Planned as Rush Limbaugh Remains Hospitalized

Rush Limbaugh, who was rushed to a Honolulu hospital Wednesday after experiencing chest pains, is resting "very comfortably" at Queen's Medical Center while doctors try to determine if the popular radio host had a heart attack. Guest host Walter E. Williams told listeners on the nationally syndicated program Thursday that more tests are planned.

Paramedics were called Wednesday to the Kahala Hotel and Resort in Hawaii, where Limbaugh, 58, has been vacationing.

"He had a comfortable night and he's getting good medical attention," Williams said.

A post on Limbaugh's Web site says he appreciates the "prayers and well wishes" of his fans. Limbaugh has been on vacation since Dec. 23 and is due back at the microphone on Jan. 4. It is unclear whether that schedule will change.

With his trademark slogan, "Talent on loan from God," Limbaugh has transformed the talk-radio format and recruited countless conservatives through his show, which he calls the "Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies."

His success has been anything but easy, though; he has often talked about his early life in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and his struggle to discover his calling.

Fired from several jobs, and working for a time for the Kansas City Royals, Limbaugh then landed at a Sacramento, Calif., radio station, where he eschewed his former "disc jockey" persona and invented his current format, featuring conservative monologues and few guests. Limbaugh recently said the station wanted him to be controversial, as long as he was sincere in his beliefs.

In 1992, Limbaugh became a best selling author with his book "The Way Things Ought to Be," which was followed up by "See, I Told You So." And his career flourished during the Clinton years and beyond. In 1994, when the GOP took control of the House, Republicans dubbed him the "Majority Maker" and made him an honorary 1994 class member.

Interestingly, Limbaugh's own father once thought he would be a failure. Limbaugh recently retold the story of how his father realized his son had achieved success only after seeing him on "Nightline" in 1988.

"So when I'm 37, he still considers himself to be a failure as a father 'cause he couldn't convince me to go to college. I'm the only member of my family that didn't graduate. . . . So when he saw this program on 'Nightline,' my mother called and told me the story. He's watching, he got to the first commercial break, and my dad took off his glasses and looked at my mother, and she said he just had the most dumbfounded look on his face. He looked at her and said, 'Millie, where in hell did he learn all this?' " And my mother looked back at him and said, 'From you, silly.' He had thought that he was a giant failure throughout his life 'cause I didn't go to college."

Speaking of dads, my dad introduced me to Limbaugh's radio show in the late 1980s. That's when Limbaugh first began broadcasting his nationally syndicated program. Over the years, Limbaugh's impact on modern-day conservatism cannot be overemphasized.

Many of today's young conservatives would not be engaged in politics were it not for Limbaugh, who has had ups and downs in recent years. The downs have included his much-publicized addiction to painkillers, his partial hearing loss, and his resignation from ESPN after controversial statements about Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback Donovan McNabb.

While many are praying for him, some of his detractors have expressed joy at his medical problems on Twitter and on blogs. The first two comments on the popular celebrity gossip blog TMZ were, "good riddance!" and "Best news I've heard in years. . . . Hope he joins MJ, the sooner the better!"