Yeah, software development is certainly a great way to immerse yourself into something if you've got alot of time to kill. I used to be a programmer myself (though not for games though unfortunately) -it was more office related PC software that I was doing, and I don't work in that field anymore. i did love it to bits though, and I miss it! My main problem now though is that as I do a totally different job now, I just don't have the time I used to for programming like I once did, and that can be a viscous cycle!) But being able to create your own stuff, while challenging at times, is definitely something that always feels very rewarding mentally. So if you're feeling down at the mo (while I'm sorry to hear that btw), I'd say that you've picked a good choice of something to get stuck into! (that being said though, with the Nintendo Switch coming out in a few weeks, you may find that the time on your hands that you once had, may not be a problem anymore!)
Have you done any game development before? Or is this going to be a totally new venture?