R.S. Sillanpaa
Bio
Why is it so hard to write about myself? That's where I get writer's block!
In short, I am a writer, dreamer, and a cancer survivor writing about a wide range of things, fiction and non-fiction, whatever happens to interest and inspire me.
Stories (99)
Filter by community
A Cancer Survivor's Epic Cycle Ride Across Europe
In March 2019 I was diagnosed with stage 3 womb cancer. Because it had spread outside the womb to nearby lymph nodes, I needed a radical hysterectomy, sessions of chemotherapy and 27 sessions of radiotherpy (25 external and two internal doses).
By R.S. Sillanpaa5 years ago in Wander
Four Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Writing On Vocal. Top Story - October 2020.
Having read about some success stories where people were earning a very decent living from writing on Vocal, I had high hopes of instant success when I wrote my first story. But my story didn't get any reads. The same thing happened with the next few stories and I almost gave up.
By R.S. Sillanpaa5 years ago in Journal
Changing a Life-Threatening Experience Into Something Positive
Cancer sucks. In fact, it both sucks and blows. Hearing the words ‘you have cancer’ was the worst moment in my life and felt like a death sentence. Especially when my oncologist told me that I needed chemo- and radiotherapy following a radical hysterectomy. Or when he said that he could not predict if I would be in the one in a ten group of survivors. He is an amazing surgeon and oncologist, but severely lacks a compassionate bedside manner.
By R.S. Sillanpaa5 years ago in Motivation
How to Identify Symptoms of Womb Cancer
Womb cancer, when diagnosed at stage one, has a very high survival rate at 95%. However, far too often it is not diagnosed until it has progressed to more advanced stages. This is because there is a lack of awareness of womb cancer and its symptoms, meaning women often seek medical advice only when the cancer has already progressed beyond stage one.
By R.S. Sillanpaa5 years ago in Viva
The Survivors
Albert sat alone at a table, staring at an old black-and-white photograph. Fifteen faces stared back at him, one of them his own. Fifteen haunted faces and eyes that spoke of fear, suffering and loss. He sighed and folded the picture in half with great care and put it in his wallet.
By R.S. Sillanpaa5 years ago in Humans
Why I write on Vocal. Top Story - June 2020.
I will be honest and say that when I first came across Vocal, I had hopes of fat paychecks and visions of quitting the day job. It hasn’t worked out like that. Not even close. In reality, I have now earned almost enough for a couple of bags of crisps and a can of coke. But I have not given up writing on Vocal, even if I’m yet to earn enough to buy myself a pint.
By R.S. Sillanpaa6 years ago in Journal
Inspirational Women in Fiction
Ayla Ayla is the main character in the Earth’s Children series by Jean M. Auel. An earthquake kills her mother and leaves Ayla an orphan. She wanders around aimlessly, ending on a path of a cave lion, which chases her. Ayla hides in a crack in a rock wall. The lion cannot pull her out put scratches her thigh leaving four deep wounds. A group of Neanderthals eventually find her by a river and the Clan's medicine woman, Iza, adopts her. As Ayla grows up, Iza teaches her about medicines and healing.
By R.S. Sillanpaa6 years ago in Viva
The Real Calamity Jane
The biography of Calamity Jane is a mix of fantastic tales and some accurate facts. Many of these tales she created and promoted herself in her autobiography, written in 1896. However, she was a woman living in a man’s world, occasionally taking on men’s work and sporting men’s clothes. She could ride a horse, shoot, drink and chew tobacco like the toughest cowboys. She was a woman who did not confine herself and became known for her daredevil ways. She was a woman who became a legend.
By R.S. Sillanpaa6 years ago in Viva
