Lynn, my sister went through a (medically) rough time a few years ago. She has a form of vasculitis (where the immune system attacks healthy cells of the body), and the treatment involves chemo and steroids and lots of other meds. Fortunately for her they caught it early, the form she has isn't usually caught until it reaches the internal organs and by then it's too late to do anything.
Anyway, so she developed diabetes (and gained a lot of weight) because of the Prednisone, but I think she's finally off the Prednisone, done with chemo, just has to take a boatload of pills. I don't think they ever consider her free of the disease, she will always have to take certain meds, you just sort of hope it doesn't get any worse.
When she first got it I researched on the internet, then freaked out because the life expectancy was very low! But of course since they don't normally catch it until too late, it would be. But she's doing well under the circumstances, and while I still don't know what her life expectancy is, she's holding her own, and I think more appreciative of life in general, ya know?