ROSEAU, Minn. (AP) " Bob Bergland is in his third year battling cancer, but the 77-year-old former U.S. secretary of agriculture and former 7th District congressman from Minnesota says he is doing well.

"I'm fine," Bergland said during an interview with the Grand Forks Herald in the Roseau home he built after retiring from Washington in 1993. "I don't hurt. My spirits are good. My faith is strong. The only downside is that I get very tired. I can live with that. I sleep well."

Bergland was diagnosed with prostate cancer after he passed out in Minneapolis. He was in town attending a meeting as a University of Minnesota regent. He was treated with a radioactive seeding.

But two years ago, when the prostate cancer declined, Bergland developed a tumor in his upper left arm. A biopsy revealed it to be sarcoma, a rare but deadly form of cancer. It was removed in spring 2004. And he received radiation treatments five days a week for seven weeks at the University of Minnesota Cancer Clinic.

Last October, cancer showed up, again. There were 25 spots in both lungs, Bergland said, and he's been going through chemo therapy since December.

Bergland says he's on a trial of a new, experimental drug. A key advantage is that he doesn't get sick or lose his hair. The drug has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and neither his private health insurance nor Medicare would pay for it, Bergland said.

"What this is going to cost is, well, we're negotiating," he says. "Basically, I'm on the hook for about $7,000 a month, but we're still trying to persuade Medicare to approve it. If not, I'll have to sell assets. I don't have that kind of money."

Bergland was born into a farming family, just north of the Roseau home he now lives in. His parents were second-generation Norwegian immigrants. The eldest of four children, Bergland got into politics in 1948 by helping organize a rally in St. Paul for Hubert Humphrey, who he ran for Senate.

In 1960, Bergland went house to house to hand out campaign literature while Humphrey was organizing Minnesota's presidential campaign for John F. Kennedy. The reward was being appointed to the state Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service committee, where he became chairman.

After losing to Odin Langen in a run for Congress in 1968, Bergland won the race in 1970.

The congressman returned to Roseau in 1993 at age 65. He pursued a hobby of cabinet making and woodworking and donates his work to churches and other groups.

In his retirement, Bergland remains interested in public affairs. He served a six-year term as a University of Minnesota regent, helped lead a fight to keep the Roseau County courthouse in Roseau and is now involved in the flood protection planning.

He supports the Central American Free Trade Agreement, saying he doesn't think the impact on the sugar industry is as serious as sugar producers think.

"I believed the argument that the Central American countries are struggling democracies," he says. "For them, to get going, they have to generate more income."

But CAFTA isn't as important to him as the sunrise or a hug from his grandchildren.

"I've changed my attitudes quite a lot," Bergland says. "My life is rather uncertain and precarious. Things I used to take for granted suddenly take on a great deal of importance _ family, friends, religious beliefs, good health and nice weather.

"When I get up in the morning, I go outside and hear the birds and have a cup of coffee. I never used to do that."