Cancer
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FWIW, anyone remember Ben Sasse? He was a US Senator from Nebraska and then President of the University of Florida. I ran into this article about him having terminal pancreatic cancer.
The former Republican senator and brief University of Florida president, 54, appeared on The New York Times' podcast with significant amounts of blood on his face, less than four months after revealing he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. At the time, Sasse described the diagnosis as a "death sentence."
Speaking with podcast host and columnist Ross Douthat, Sasse got candid about his own mortality, and why he's chosen to speak out publicly in his remaining time.
"In mid-December I got a three- to four-month life expectancy, and I’m at Day 99 or something since then, and I’m doing a heck of a lot better than I was doing at Christmas," Sasse shared. "But even at three to four months left to live, you have to redeem the time."
The father of three added, "There’s only so many bits of unsolicited advice I can give my children," so he's happy to impart what he can to journalists willing to listen. He and wife Melissa share daughters Corrie and Alex, in their 20s, and son Breck, who was 14 at the time Sasse announced his diagnosis.
Sasse said he first noticed something was wrong in late October 2025. His preferred method of staying fit, he said, was sprint triathlons, and when he was training at that time, he realized he was experiencing much more back and abdominal pain than usual. At first, he thought he had just pulled a muscle.
By November 2025, the pain was severe enough that he decided to seek medical attention. His physician ran several tests that didn't reveal anything, so Sasse's doctor referred him to a gastroenterologist, believing the cause could be undiagnosed celiac or lactose intolerance.
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Some information on Pancreatic Cancer:
cancer.osu.edu
Former Sen. Ben Sasse, Bleeding from His Face, Shares Brutal Reality of Terminal Cancer at Age 54
Sasse was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer in December 2025- With blood on his face, former Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse sat down with The New York Times to open up about his painful experience with terminal cancer
- The father of three, 54, was diagnosed with stage 4 inoperable pancreatic cancer in mid-December and said he learned his "torso is chock-full of tumors"
- A new drug he's been prescribed has greatly improved his condition, but it causes him to "bleed all out of a whole bunch of parts of me that shouldn’t be bleeding" because his body can't properly grow new skin
The former Republican senator and brief University of Florida president, 54, appeared on The New York Times' podcast with significant amounts of blood on his face, less than four months after revealing he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. At the time, Sasse described the diagnosis as a "death sentence."
Speaking with podcast host and columnist Ross Douthat, Sasse got candid about his own mortality, and why he's chosen to speak out publicly in his remaining time.
"In mid-December I got a three- to four-month life expectancy, and I’m at Day 99 or something since then, and I’m doing a heck of a lot better than I was doing at Christmas," Sasse shared. "But even at three to four months left to live, you have to redeem the time."
The father of three added, "There’s only so many bits of unsolicited advice I can give my children," so he's happy to impart what he can to journalists willing to listen. He and wife Melissa share daughters Corrie and Alex, in their 20s, and son Breck, who was 14 at the time Sasse announced his diagnosis.
Sasse said he first noticed something was wrong in late October 2025. His preferred method of staying fit, he said, was sprint triathlons, and when he was training at that time, he realized he was experiencing much more back and abdominal pain than usual. At first, he thought he had just pulled a muscle.
By November 2025, the pain was severe enough that he decided to seek medical attention. His physician ran several tests that didn't reveal anything, so Sasse's doctor referred him to a gastroenterologist, believing the cause could be undiagnosed celiac or lactose intolerance.
Login to view embedded media .
.
.
continued
Some information on Pancreatic Cancer:
Pancreatic Cancer | OSUCCC – James
What is pancreatic cancer? Discover the symptoms and stages, as well as the treatments and research being pioneered at the OSUCCC – James.
cancer.osu.edu
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