[TexasJack]

"I'm really trying not to get discouraged,...."

Any serious disease like this is a physical, mental, and spiritual trial. As for the spiritual part, I honestly don't know how an atheist makes it through. When I was working through pancreatic cancer, I had a lot of talks with God, and they all ended with, "Thy will be done." The physical part is obvious and tough, but the mental part can kill you faster than anything else. I've seen people survive far longer than expected with terrible disease and I've seen them fold up and die without a chance because they gave up. Diseases like cancer don't just want to kill you. They want to take your soul. They want to drive a wedge between you and all you love and care about. They want you to be overcome with grief. Don't ever let that happen. Hold your family and friends and your work close as a treasure that you're not going to give up. There will be adjustments you have to make. Some days just surviving is good enough. And some days will be fulfilling.

Life isn't about a destination. We all start at the same place and we all end up dead. It's the journey between those points that matters. God has a purpose for your life. When your time is up, it's up, but until then you still have a purpose - even if you never find out what it is .