Thanks for sharing your truly traumatic experience. I'm happy to hear that you overcame this melanoma challenge with such good spirits.

It is true that cancer treatments, specifically chemo, take a heavy toll on the vasculature, aging it prematurely. I am too far removed from the oncology world to be qualified to make an assessment or estimate of the long-term effects of childhood cancer treatments. But knowing the self-restorative power of the human body, I guess you'll be better off than cancer sufferers at advanced adult age. As far as the mind-body connection influences longevity and life expectancy, I'm pretty certain that mental health and physical function go hand in hand. There is too little longitudinal research available, to make a definitive statement, but very recent investigations point to the fact that mental state, cognitive abilities, and physical function influence each other at an advanced age. I have this subject on my radar for a separate article in the near future, but I need to do some more research on that subject. Your response just moved this subject further to the top of my list. Thanks for that, Sven