Ben Sasse was told he had three to four months to live. He is now past Day 99 - and his latest cancer update is as surprising as it is sobering.
The former Nebraska senator, 54, sat down with the New York Times "Interesting Times" podcast in Austin, Texas, for his most detailed public health update yet. The headline number: his tumor volume is down 76% from late December, thanks to an experimental drug called daraxonrasib - developed by Silicon Valley company Revolution Medicines and taken orally as part of a clinical trial at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
The results look remarkable on paper. Sasse is quick to temper expectations.
He acknowledged the cancer has already spread too widely to be overcome - comparing it to dandelion seeds that have already scattered across neighboring yards. Clearing what is visible does not undo what has already spread.
Doctors identified not one but five forms of cancer - lymphoma, vascular, lung, liver, and pancreatic, where it originated. There is no surgical option. The clinical trial is about buying time, not a cure.
The Physical Toll Is Real
The interview was recorded on camera, and Sasse appeared with dried blood covering his face - a direct side effect of the drug preventing his skin from healing. He described the sensation as "nuclear" and joked about how frequently he visits the pharmacy.
His pain is now 80% reduced from when he was first diagnosed, though nausea from treatment remains a constant battle. He dropped from 55 milligrams of morphine daily at diagnosis down to 30. He manages four variables every day - pain, nausea, fatigue, and what he calls the "undercarriage" - each medication affecting the others.
He is not sugarcoating any of it.
Why He Is Thanking God for Cancer
This is where Sasse's faith comes through loudest - and most unexpectedly.
When asked if he was ever angry at God, his answer was a flat no. He pointed to the late pastor Tim Keller - who also died of pancreatic cancer - saying he would never wish this disease on anyone, but would never want to return to a time before knowing what Keller called "the prayer of pancreatic cancer."
For Sasse, the disease has done what years of success, comfort, and public life could not - stripped away the illusion of self-sufficiency.
"Cancer sucks," he said in the interview. "But I'm pretty grateful that cancer is a stake against my delusional self-idolatry."
He invoked the Apostle Paul's words - to live is Christ, to die is gain - not as a cliché but as a lived reality. "Death is terrible. We should never sugarcoat it. It is not how things are meant to be. But it is great that death can be called the final enemy - and then there will be no more tears."
What He Wants His Kids to Know
Sasse has two adult daughters, ages 22 and 24, and a 14-year-old son named Breck. Leaving his boy without a father has been the heaviest part of all of this. He said he has been repenting to his family for years about workaholism - this is not a deathbed conversion, but the urgency is sharper now.
His advice to anyone watching from the outside: honor the Sabbath. Protect dinnertime. Take fewer trips. Build thicker family. Stop letting the urgent crowd out the eternal.
Still Podcasting, Still Showing Up
His podcast Not Dead Yet - the title a nod to Monty Python - is still recording. Sasse said he needs to laugh at death because death is terrible, but death doesn't get the final word - and laughing at the suffering is a way to make it communal and tell a bigger truth.
For a man doctors expected to be gone by spring, Ben Sasse is doing a remarkable amount of living - and pointing every bit of it back to the God he says he is about to meet.
Watch Full Interview: How Ben Sasse is Living Now That He Is Dying | Interesting Times with Ross Douthat
Related Article: Ben Sasse Moved to Tears as He Expresses Hope of the Gospel Amid Terminal Cancer Battle
Courtesy Post from: Interesting Times with Ross Douthat
