Thoughts are with you, and hats off for the way you’ve described it.
Have lost a neighbour to pancreatic cancer this week, and have a colleague struggling with leukemia. The first was accepting of the situation and succumbed pretty quickly. The second is doing the best he can, but he’s somewhat fatalistic, has led a sedentary life and is very unfit. He’s not got a great prognosis.
I’ve also seen someone I respect enormously absolutely refuse to give in, and treat this as a challenge to be overcome. He’s still with us, still treating the illness with maximum aggression. Actually, he’s treating everything with maximum aggression, but then that’s just him.
You’re going about it the same way, I think; treat the illness as something to beat, and focus on not giving up. It’ll be a big climb, as you say.
Sounds like you’d be available for Mayhem 2012, so put it in your diary now. Happy to ride with you, so long as you’re not too fast!