a) We've actually had characters in similar terminally ill situations before, so you definitely have a few options on this! One is to keep the illness as bad as usual and have the nurses explain it away through a more realistic disease; another is to have him start off sick and then be administered medicine/treatment daily that would slowly begin to cure him; the last and probably easiest would be for him to wake up at Landel's with a totally good-as-new (or at least significantly more healthy) body and then be rid of the disease completely.

b) We think it's okay for you to use his old name, since it seems like an alter-ego kind of thing and we're more lenient with that stuff these days than we've been in the past.

Hope that helps and if you need any more clarification, don't hesitate to ask! \o/