Victor Davis Hanson Gives Update 6 Weeks After Cancer Surgery

Fred Lucas

•   February 12, 2026

Six weeks after surgery to remove lung cancer, Victor Davis Hanson shared in his most recent podcast about his recovery and the hope he has gained from well-wishers.  

“I never expected so many people to be so nice. … I knew they were nice. I didn’t know there were so many of them,” said Hanson, a senior contributor to The Daily Signal, during a podcast. “I’m getting letters, emails every single day from the nicest people.” 

“We get all of these distractions of [New York Mayor Zohran] Mamdani, and Bad Bunny, and all the [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] stuff, and you get depressed,” Hanson said.

“Then you get these letters from people, from a kind of a lost generation we don’t even think about, and they write in the most beautiful cursive handwriting. It’s amazing. I’ll get people that will write a whole page in just beautiful calligraphy, and they all mention God, they talk about prayer, they talk about their lives, they talk about all the tragedies. I read every one of them.” 

He opened the program with details of his recovery.  

The surgeon “got the lymph nodes,” and once he awoke, “I thought everything was going great,” he noted.  

“I’m 72, so one of my arteries and two of my veins, I don’t know what happened. I guess they’re old, but they started bleeding pretty heavily,” he said.  

He said his surgeon “didn’t hesitate.” 

“They put me out, and reopened the lung, and started all over again, and he found them,” he said. “I lost, I don’t know, two or three liters and five transfusions.” 

Though he is taking a positive outlook, he noted frustration, and wishes he felt better than he did.  

“So, I just feel like I’m too wobbly, I can’t drive yet. I’d like to get back full time to work,” he said.  

He mentioned the cancer was uncommon. 

He said one of his doctors said, “This is the sideshow, the real problem is making sure that cancer doesn’t come back.” 

Fred Lucas
Fred Lucas | Senior Investigative Reporter
Fred Lucas is senior investigative reporter for the Daily Signal. He is the author of “The Myth of Voter Suppression: The Left’s Assault on Clean Elections.”

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