When acute lymphoblastic leukaemia struck in 2007, Roula Selinas lost control of her body. But she discovered one domain where she could still govern: her mind. Nineteen years post-transplant, she walks through what mental control actually means when recovery is not linear, how she rebuilt strength one step at a time, and why emotional support is not optional.
Recovery from cancer is rarely a straight line, and Roula Selinas knows this intimately. Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in April 2007, she endured eight months of intensive chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant from an 80 percent compatible donor, graft versus host disease twice, steroid-induced diabetes, five eye surgeries, a mini-stroke, and a year living in hospital. Years later, just as she’d rebuilt her strength, secondary cancer struck. Through both, Roula held fast to one practice: controlling what she could control. She learned to break recovery into single steps, not the whole mountain at once. Walking. Then stairs. Then kayaking. Each one mattered. She leaned hard on her support network, discovering that people without emotional backing often don’t survive, not just physically but psychologically. Her mother’s silent presence in hospital rooms proved more healing than any words. Nineteen years on, Roula runs a counselling practice and has written Stronger, a guide to healing from adversity. She speaks plainly about gratitude as a daily practice, not a one-time event, and how your pain can become your purpose if you let it. This is not motivational gloss. This is what endurance actually looks like, one step at a time.
🕒 CHAPTERS:
00:00 Welcome to The Grit Diaries
03:20 Childhood in Haverfield: Milk Bar, Books, and Belonging
08:00 After High School: Admin, Business, Personal Development
13:00 Understanding Bone Marrow Transplant and the Catch-22 of Survival
15:50 The Cascade: Graft Versus Host, Diabetes, Stroke, and What Came After
17:00 Mental Control: The One Thing She Could Govern
18:40 Ten Years to Rebuild: Relationship Breakdown and Finding Purpose on the Kayak
20:00 One Step at a Time: From Walking to Kayaking
22:50 Secondary Cancer: The Second Fracture and a Calling to Study
27:00 The Sacred Role of Support Networks and How to Ask for Help
31:00 Presence Over Words: The Power of Sitting, Silence, and Touch
34:50 Closing: Transform Counselling, Breaking Barriers, and Rula’s Gift
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🌐 CONNECT WITH ROULA SELINAS:
Transform Counselling and Coaching: www.transformcounsellingcoaching.com.au
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ABOUT KINTSUGI HEROES
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Welcome.
We’re glad you found your way here.
Kintsugi Heroes was created from a simple belief: every person has a story worth sharing, and sometimes the story we need to hear arrives exactly when we need it most.
Our name comes from the Japanese art of Kintsugi, where broken pottery is repaired with gold. Rather than hiding the cracks, they are honoured as part of the object’s history. We believe people are much the same. The experiences that challenge us, break us, shape us, and help us grow are often the very things that connect us to one another.
This channel is home to honest conversations about resilience, hope, grief, recovery, courage, love, and what it means to keep moving forward when life doesn’t go to plan.
Here you’ll find six podcast series, each sharing stories through a different lens:
• Kintsugi Heroes, hosted by John Milham
• Animals & Us, hosted by Natalie Stockdale
• Grit Diaries: From Grit to Grace, hosted by Simone Allan and Maryan Bova
• From There to Here, hosted by Emma Bellamy-Dodd
• Golden Threads: Stories of Disability & Resilience
Every story shared here is offered with the hope that it helps someone feel a little less alone. A little more understood. A little more connected.
Whether you’re navigating a difficult season, supporting someone you love, or simply looking for meaningful conversations, you’re welcome here.
New episodes are released fortnightly.
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Thank you for being part of this community.
We help people tell the stories they need to share so others can discover the story they need to hear.
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