I need to send out a cry of "Fuck Cancer" as well. My step-grandfather was just diagnosed with mesothelioma. Chances of survival are about nil.
He is an amazing person, very smart and funny and irreverent in the vein of John Cleese, and... I'm just kind of stunned. I've been closer to him than to either of my biological grandfathers, and while I kind of knew he wasn't going to be around forever (he's in his eighties), the fact that he's probably not going to be around at Christmas just doesn't seem right.
He's heading back to England (he never did bother to become a full U.S. citizen - he found all the questionnaires, etc. appallingly intrusive) via cruise ship to go see family over there. I have an awful feeling he won't be coming back.