1st Tacoma - Can I Beat the Rust?

Just bought my 1st tacoma, always have wanted one and when my wife agreed that an "old beater" would be helpful with our various projects, I jumped at the chance. With a rather modest budget (we disagreed a tad on what exactly constituted an "old beater") I eventually found a rather economical deal on a 03' TRD SR5 v.6 manual with 140k on the odometer. I knew that what I was saving would have to be re-invested (muffler, rear shocks, parking cable... etc.) but bought the truck anyway.

When I brought it over to the dealership to do the wheel carrier recall I found out there was a rusty crack inside the passenger side frame forward of the 1st spring mount. I have since cut out and re-welded the affected area. I've inspected the rest of the frame fairly closely and, though there is prevalent scaling and surface rust, it doesn't seem to penetrate anywhere else and the frame itself seems fairly sturdy.

As I've researched the issue of tacoma frame rust I've read a lot of doom and gloom and people telling me my beautiful "new" tacoma is done for. I was thinking I'd invest in a sand blaster and some bottom coat... or am I actually doomed? I was hoping you tacoma "docs" out there would give me the prognosis or maybe some advice.

Thanks,

Josh in Maine