“This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase: Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die,” his post began. “Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do.”
Sasse then praised the support he’s received from family and friends since the diagnosis, but admitted he has “less time than I’d prefer,” something he said was “hard for someone wired to work and build, but harder still as a husband and a dad.”
He also said his Christian faith was helping him face what’s next with hope and optimism while admitting that “optimism is great, and it’s absolutely necessary, but it’s insufficient.”
“It’s not the kinda thing that holds up when you tell your daughters you’re not going to walk them down the aisle. Nor telling your mom and pops they’re gonna bury their son.”
Sasse insisted that despite the serious diagnosis, he’s not going down without a fight, writing:
“One sub-part of God’s grace is found in the jawdropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more. Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived. We’re zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I’ve pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape.”
You can read the entire post below.
Sasse’s post attracted sympathy across the political spectrum.
