'no More Tears': Former Senator Ben Sasse Talks Frankly About His Terminal Cancer Diagnosis

Ben Sasse, who represented Nebraska for 8 years successful nan U.S. Senate, said openly this week astir surviving — and dying — pinch cancer.

Sasse announced successful December he was diagnosed pinch metastasized Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, a test he called “a decease sentence.”

The New York Times columnist Ross Douthat interviewed Sasse for a podcast released Thursday connected topics ranging from Sasse’s life successful authorities to nan weight of his life-altering crab diagnosis.

Even facing what Sasse described arsenic “three aliases 4 months to live,” he said, “you person to redeem your time.”

Sasse said he had persistent backmost and abdominal symptom past twelvemonth that prompted a doctor’s visit, initially reasoning it was from aggravated triathlon training.

After a full-body scan and aggregate aesculapian evaluations, he was told his torso was “chock-full of tumors.”

In nan days pursuing nan first Stage 4 pancreatic crab diagnosis, doctors besides identified lymphoma, vascular cancer, lung crab and what he described arsenic “bad” liver cancer.

“Death is terrible. We should ne'er sugarcoat it. It is not really things are meant to be,” Sasse said. “But it is awesome that decease tin beryllium called nan last enemy. It’s an force — but a last force — and past location will beryllium nary much tears.”

The erstwhile legislator and former president of nan University of Florida is besides a genitor of three. The imaginable of leaving his children down has been nan astir difficult portion of his reality pinch cancer.

“I didn’t for illustration nan thought of my 14‑year‑old not having a dada astir astatine 16. I didn’t for illustration nan thought of my daughters, who are 22 and 24, not having a genitor location to locomotion them down nan aisle,” Sasse said.

Despite those thoughts, Sasse said location has been acceptance and an effort to make nan remaining clip meaningful.

“We’re each connected nan clock, and I wanted to person prioritized better,” Sasse said. “Whether I really only person 3 aliases 4 months left, aliases 9 to 12 months, I want to prioritize amended from then.”

To effort and bargain arsenic overmuch clip arsenic possible, Sasse has been taking an experimental crab supplier called daraxonrasib. As a broadside effect, nan medicine prevents normal tegument maturation and causes wide bleeding successful areas “that shouldn’t beryllium bleeding,” Sasse said.

In video of nan question and reply pinch Douthat, Sasse tin beryllium seen pinch dried humor each complete his face. He said his look feels “nuclear” and he joked astir predominant drugstore visits, saying, “I’m keeping that manufacture employed correct now.”

He said nan tumor measurement has decreased by 76% since starting treatment, but described nan crab arsenic “weeds,” noting that immoderate tumors person already “seeded.”

“Cancer sucks,” Sasse said. “But I’m beautiful grateful that crab is simply a liking against my illusion self‑idolatry.”

Even though he has regular pain, Sasse continues moving and conducting interviews for his podcast, “Not Dead Yet.” He said nan title of nan podcast is simply a reference to a joke from drama troupe Monty Python, suggestive of Sasse’s usage of joke successful nan look of his ain mortality.

After reflecting connected nan “heaviness” of nary longer being location for his children, Sasse said he’s besides travel to position pinch dying.

“But I’ve continued to consciousness a bid astir nan truth that decease is thing that we should hate,” Sasse said. “We should telephone it a wicked thief. And yet, it’s beautiful bully that you walk done nan veil of tears 1 clip and past location will beryllium nary much tears, location will beryllium nary much cancer.”