BREMERTON—Facing a diagnosis of Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, Bremerton City Councilman Mike Sullivan is far from giving up.

“There’s a clock running,” he said. “We just don’t know how big that clock is.”

Sullivan, 65, who spoke by phone from his home on Tuesday, said he’s undergoing chemotherapy and plans to be back at work “as soon I begin to react favorably to the chemo.”

“I’m not much good at this sitting around stuff,” he said. “I’ve got to be working.”

Sullivan said during the past few months, he had been having pain in his chest and difficulty breathing. He sought medical attention and underwent a series of medical examinations.

“Tests, tests, tests and more tests,” he said. “But nothing was apparent.”

He ended up at Urgent Care recently and was sent to a thorastic surgeon who said he needed surgery for what they thought to be a Pulmonary infarction.

“My doctor said if you were my son I’d tell you to have surgery right away,” Sullivan said. “I told him, ‘OK Dad, when’s surgery?’”

It was set for the following Monday and that is when he learned he had Stage 4 cancer in his pancreas, at the base of his spine and in his lungs.

He then underwent a PET scan to determine the primary location of the cancer. He is having chemotherapy every other week.

“The prognosis is not good,” Sullivan said. “This has taught me to embrace life.”

He was released from the hospital earlier this week and is being cared for at home by his wife.

“I’m not at the point where I can’t care for myself,” he said. “I’m not all that dependent yet.”

Sullivan said he’s had several visitors, including a neighbor who is assigned to the USS Stennis.

“It’s funny,” he said. “We were just talking about how for 65 I was in pretty good shape and didn’t need any medication. Now I have a list of medications two pages long.”

No decision has been made on filling his seat on the council, pending his health.

Mayor Patty Lent said the seat will remain Sullivan’s for as long as he wants.

“That decision hasn’t really been made yet,” said Sullivan. “There are enough people around who respect me and know how much I care about this city…I think they want to wait and see what happens.”

In the meantime, Sullivan had only one request of his friends in Bremerton.

“Pray for me,” he said. “That’s what I really need right now.”

Sullivan is in his first term as a councilman. He was elected in 2013. A retired chief petty officer and submariner, Sullivan served 23 years in the Navy. He’s called Bremerton home for more than three decades.

His district encompasses an area north of the Port Washington Narrows and west of the Wheaton Way, in East Bremerton. His council goals for 2015 were to improve the city’s road network and ensure the city maintains its rapid emergency response.