I got the same impression. He was conveying the end is in sight and that he will be getting more and more sporadic in appearances on the show.
I took that, too. “... as long as I can” doesn’t sound like there is optimism as to outcome.
I thought maybe he was going to tell us today he was retiring from the show. My mother died from lung cancer, it was not pretty. However, she stopped the chemo after two or three treatments, it was just too tough.