Heard a Pop in My Head: The Stroke Warning Sign Most People Ignore
When Phat heard a pop in his head, it didn’t feel dramatic.
There was no collapse. No sirens. No panic.
Just a strange sensation.
A few minutes of numbness.
Then… everything went back to normal.
So he did what most people would do.
He ignored it.
Five days later, he was being rushed to the hospital with a hemorrhagic cerebellar stroke that nearly cost him his life.
This is not a rare story.
It’s a dangerously misunderstood stroke warning sign and one that often gets dismissed because the symptoms disappear.
When You Hear a Pop in Your Head, Your Brain Might Be Warning You
“Hearing a pop in my head” isn’t something doctors list neatly on posters in emergency rooms.
But among stroke survivors, especially those who experienced hemorrhagic strokes, this phrase comes up more often than you’d expect.
For Phat, the pop happened while stretching on a Sunday. Immediately after:
- His left side went numb
- The numbness lasted about five minutes
- Everything returned to “normal”
No pain. No weakness. No emergency, at least that’s how it felt.
This is where the danger lies.
Stroke Symptoms That Go Away Are Often the Most Misleading
One of the most common secondary keywords people search after an experience like this is:
“Stroke symptoms that go away”
And for good reason.
In Phat’s case, the initial bleed didn’t cause full collapse. It caused a slow haemorrhage, a bleed that worsened gradually over days.
By Friday, the real symptoms arrived:
- Severe vertigo
- Vomiting and nausea
- Inability to walk
- Double vision after stroke onset
By Sunday, his girlfriend called an ambulance despite Phat insisting he’d “sleep it off.”
That delay nearly killed him.
Cerebellar Stroke: Why the Symptoms Are Easy to Miss
A cerebellar stroke affects balance, coordination, and vision more than speech or facial droop. That makes it harder to recognise.
Common cerebellar stroke warning signs include:
- Sudden dizziness or vertigo
- Trouble walking or standing
- Nausea and vomiting
- Double vision
- Head pressure without sharp pain
Unlike classic FAST symptoms, these can be brushed off as:
- Inner ear issues
- Migraine
- Muscle strain
- Fatigue or stress
That’s why “pop in head then stroke” is such a common post-diagnosis search.
The Complication That Changed Everything
Phat’s stroke was classified as cryptogenic, meaning doctors couldn’t determine the exact cause.
But the consequences were severe.
After repairing the bleeding vessel, his brain began to swell. Surgeons were forced to remove part of his cerebellum to relieve pressure and save his life.
He woke up with:
- Partial paralysis
- Severe balance impairment
- Double vision
- Tremors
- Aphasia
- A completely altered sense of identity
Recovery wasn’t just physical.
It was existential.
The Invisible Disability No One Warns You About
Today, if you met Phat, you might not realise he’s a stroke survivor.
That’s one of the hardest parts.
He still lives with:
- Fatigue
- Visual processing challenges
- Limited multitasking ability
- Balance limitations
- Cognitive overload
This is the reality of invisible disability after stroke when you look fine, but your nervous system is working overtime just to keep up.
Recovery Wasn’t Linear — It Was Personal
Phat describes himself as a problem solver. That mindset became his survival tool.
Some of what helped:
- Self-directed rehabilitation (sometimes against advice)
- Meditation and breath-counting to calm the nervous system
- Vision therapy exercises to retrain eye coordination
- Strength and coordination training on his affected side
He walked again after about a year.
Returned to work after two.
And continues to adapt more than four years later.
Recovery didn’t mean returning to the old version of himself.
It meant integrating who he was with who he became.
Why This Story Matters If You’ve Heard a Pop in Your Head
This blog isn’t here to scare you.
It’s here to clarify something crucial:
If you hear a pop in your head followed by any neurological change, even if it goes away, get checked immediately.
Especially if it’s followed by:
- Numbness
- Vision changes
- Balance issues
- Confusion
- Head pressure or vertigo
Stroke doesn’t always announce itself loudly.
Sometimes it whispers first.
You’re Not Alone — And Recovery Is Possible
Phat now runs a platform called Hope for Stroke Survivors, sharing stories, tools, and reminders that recovery doesn’t end when hospital rehab stops.
If you’re early in recovery, or terrified after a strange symptom, remember this:
- Stroke recovery is complex
- Timelines vary
- Healing continues for years
- You don’t have to do it alone
???? Learn more about recovery journeys and tools in Bill Gasiamis’ book:
The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened
???? Support the podcast and community on Patreon:
Patreon.com/Recoveryafterstroke
“I heard a pop in my head… and because everything felt normal again, I ignored it.”
Final Thought
If this article helped you name something you couldn’t explain before, share it with someone you love.
Because sometimes, recognising a stroke doesn’t start with fear.
It starts with understanding.
Disclaimer:
This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan.
“I Heard a Pop in My Head” — Phat’s Cerebellar Stroke Story
A pop. Five minutes of numbness. Then everything felt “normal.” Days later, Phat collapsed with a cerebellar haemorrhage.
???? Research shortcut I use (Turnto.ai)
I used Turnto.ai to find relevant papers and sources in minutes instead of hours.
If you want to try it, my affiliate LINK
PDF Download
The Present Moment Is All We Have: You survived the stroke. Now learn how to heal from it.
Highlights:
00:00 Introduction and Life Before the Stroke
01:14 The Stroke Experience
09:05 Initial Diagnosis and Recovery
13:29 Rehabilitation Journey Begins
17:44 Mental Challenges of Recovery
22:40 Identity Transformation Post-Stroke
30:57 Mindset Shifts and Control
36:39 Breath Control Techniques for Stress Relief
42:04 Managing Tremors and Physical Recovery
48:09 Growing an Online Presence and Sharing Stories
01:01:01 Understanding Stroke Recovery
Transcript:
Phat (00:00)
on a Sunday. And then it wasn’t until I felt like severe stroke symptoms on a Friday, which was about, what is it, four or five days. And then I didn’t think I was having a stroke because I didn’t realize the details of the stroke.
And so I just went about my day on that Sunday and until Friday I started getting like some BEFAST symptoms and then, you know, I tried to sleep it off it was actually just me and my girlfriend at the house and then she didn’t feel, comfortable. So then she called the ambulance, even though I told her I’ll just sleep it off. It’s okay.
Introduction and Life Before the Stroke
Bill Gasiamis (00:37)
today’s guest is Fat Kyle, a stroke survivor who experienced something most people would brush off. He heard a pop in his head. It went away, so he kept going. Days later, his brain was bleeding.
Fat story isn’t traumatic for the sake of it. It’s honest, it’s thoughtful, and it speaks directly to anyone who’s ever ignored a symptom because it didn’t last. In this conversation, we talk about delayed stroke symptoms, cerebellar hemorrhage, identity loss, invisible disability, meditation, and what it really takes to rebuild a life when your old one disappears.
And if you’ve ever had that moment where you thought, was that something or nothing? This conversation really matters. Now, before we get into it, I want to briefly mention something that fits naturally with this topic. When you’re dealing with stroke, whether you’re newly affected or years into recovery, finding clear relevant information can be exhausting.
research opinions, patients, stories and updates constantly coming out. And most of it isn’t written.
with stroke survivors in
tool I personally use and find helpful is Turn2. I like it because it cuts down the time and energy it takes to stay informed. Instead of digging through endless articles, Turn2.ai pulls together all stroke-related research updates, expert insights, and patient discussions in one place based on what you actually care about. It’s not about replacing doctors, it’s about reducing noise.
when your focus, energy and capacity are limited. You’ll find the link in the description. And just to be transparent, if you choose to use my link, it helps support the podcast at no extra cost to you.
All right, let’s get into Fats story.
Bill Gasiamis (02:23)
Phat Cao Welcome to the
Phat (02:26)
Hey Bill, thank you. It’s an honor to meet you.
Bill Gasiamis (02:29)
pleasures all mine. I pronounce that correctly?
Phat (02:32)
Yeah, you know you did. It’s not that complicated. Fat Cal is right. I blame my parents.
Bill Gasiamis (02:39)
Fair enough. that a common name in Vietnam?
Phat (02:42)
You know, it’s not a common name. Actually, it’s not a common Vietnamese name. But a lot of people do have fat, the first name, and then the last name people do. Some people do have it. It just happens in America, it means something else, you know, in English.
Bill Gasiamis (02:58)
It totally does, it sounds like I’m being mean.
Phat (03:01)
Yeah, I get it all the time. I’ve had to grow up like this. It’s been kind of rough.
Bill Gasiamis (03:08)
I hear you. Have you ever considered making a change to one of the names just for the sake of ease?
Phat (03:15)
Phat’s so funny. You know what? Because I wasn’t born in the US, because I live in the US. And when I got my citizenship, that was something I thought about. But then after I thought about it, I’m like, well, this is the name that was given to me. Vietnamese, it means something else. And so then I decided to keep it.
Bill Gasiamis (03:33)
What does it mean in Vietnamese?
Phat (03:34)
Phat was kind of like,
means prosperity and also like high prosperity.
Bill Gasiamis (03:41)
Dude, that’s a cool name.
Phat (03:43)
Thank you, yeah. Yeah, so yeah, when I tell people, they’re like, oh wow.
Bill Gasiamis (03:47)
I had, ⁓ my name is not Bill, it’s Vasili. Phat’s my Greek name. My parents gave me that name when I was born. And when I had, when I turned 18 and I got my driver’s license, they asked me, because my birth certificate says Vasili, what do you wanna have on your driver’s license? And I think I made the wrong decision then. I chose Bill for the sake of ease of use.
And once it’s on your driver’s license, then it goes on pretty much every other document after that. And it’s really difficult to go back and change everything. I kind of, I don’t regret it, but I love the connection to your roots, you know, with the original name that you were given.
Phat (04:23)
Yeah.
⁓ yeah.
I get, you know what, I had that decision too, because everyone pretty much in my family, they changed their names. So, you know, when I was at that point, I decided not to. And so, hey, it is what it is. You know, I had to go through some stuff, but I think it kind of set, it created me to, you know, to kind of not care so much and just embrace my roots.
Bill Gasiamis (04:59)
Yeah. And with a name like prosperity, it’s probably helpful in taking, that attitude to the rest of your life, especially after a stroke, man.
Phat (05:11)
Yeah, yeah, definitely I had to live it, you know, but yeah. I don’t know how prosperous or how much that is since I had a stroke, but I had to live it.
Bill Gasiamis (05:25)
You have to adapt it somehow. So what was life like before stroke? Anyway, how did you go about your day?
Phat (05:32)
You know, before the stroke, was active. You know, I like to do a lot of community service. I was involved with a lot of nonprofits. You know, I felt like I did various things. You know, I went through a lot of different stages in my life, but I’ll start off coming to America here. You know, I grew up in a trailer home. My parents escaped Vietnam, took us over here. And, you know, we grew up
pretty poor and so you know he’s just growing up in the US my parents didn’t know a lot of English and so that was kind of my childhood. But just growing up and slowly you know learning how to adjust you know that was kind of my thing and I was trying to learn as much as I could so that way I can help my family and stuff and you know be the one to provide and stuff too and help them out for all their sacrifices. But yeah that was my life before the stroke in a nutshell.
Bill Gasiamis (06:31)
What kind of
conditions did they escape?
Phat (06:33)
You know what, was towards, it was at the end of the war and so the communists had taken over. So they were fighting for the South, you know, which is allies with the U.S. and they wanted to bring us over here for freedom.
Bill Gasiamis (06:48)
Wow, pretty intense. old were you?
Phat (06:49)
Yeah.
You know, I was one year, not even one years old when I got over here, but during when they escaped, they went to a refugee camp in the Philippines and that was where I was born. I also have two older sisters that were born in Vietnam, but I was the only one born in the Philippines at the refugee camp until they got, they got accepted to the U.S. and then they took our whole family over here.
Bill Gasiamis (07:16)
And what year was that?
Phat (07:18)
Phat was 1983.
Bill Gasiamis (07:20)
Dude, you don’t look like you were born like in 1983. You look like you were born only like in the 2000s.
Phat (07:24)
Hey, I appreciate it.
No, I was born in 1983. So I’m 42 right now.
Bill Gasiamis (07:34)
Now you don’t look like you’re 42, but that’s great.
Phat (07:38)
I it. Yeah, you know, I had the stroke when I was 36. So it’s been about four years and seven months. I did a calculation.
Bill Gasiamis (07:48)
How did that come about? happened? How did you end up having a stroke?
Phat (07:54)
You know, as far as the stroke, I had a hemorrhagic stroke. It was actually a cerebellar stroke and the doctors could not determine exactly how it happened. And so, you know, they did some tests and stuff, but they couldn’t figure it out. So mine is considered cryptogenic.
Bill Gasiamis (08:13)
Defend the means.
They found the bleeding blood vessel though, right?
Phat (08:19)
Yeah, they found a bleeding. ⁓ One of the arteries in the cerebellum was bleeding. And so it was like, I felt like a
on a Sunday. And then it wasn’t until I felt like severe stroke symptoms on a Friday, which was about, what is it, four or five days. And then I didn’t think I was having a stroke because I didn’t realize the details of the stroke.
Heard a Pop in My Head
And so I just went about my day on that Sunday and until Friday I started getting like some BEFAST symptoms and then, you know, I tried to sleep it off and until, you know, it was actually just me and my girlfriend at the house and then she didn’t feel, you know, like comfortable. So then she called the ambulance, even though I told her I’ll just sleep it off. It’s okay.
Bill Gasiamis (09:14)
Did you actually hear a pop? Felt a pop? I’ve heard similar stories before. like, what was that like?
Phat (09:22)
Okay, you know, I did feel a pop. And then actually, when I was stretching at that time, which I don’t tell a lot of people because it sounds really funny, but I was stretching at that time and then I felt a pop. And so that’s when like part of my left side went numb. And then I was wondering if it was a stroke and I didn’t know much about strokes, right? You have your assumptions.
what a stroke is and so I was like, well maybe it’s a stroke and at that time I waited about five, 10 minutes and I felt normal again. So then I just went about my day and at that time I was doing a lot of stuff so I kind of forgot about it. Which, you know, it doesn’t make sense but yeah, I forgot about it.
Bill Gasiamis (10:13)
Did the numbness hang around the entire five days before you got to the hospital?
Phat (10:19)
It did not. It only stayed for about five minutes and then it went back to normal.
Bill Gasiamis (10:25)
Wow. Phat would kind of distract you from thinking that there was something wrong, right? Because the numbness goes away. hear a pop, so what? Like everything’s fine.
Phat (10:26)
So then…
Yeah.
Yeah, then I should
have went to the hospital and got it sort of looked into, but at that time I didn’t. And then I just continued with what I had to do and I went back to work and not realizing it was a slow bleed. You know, I think your body, now that I’m looking back, I think your body kind of fixes itself a little bit as much as it can. And then it was like, it turned into like a slow bleed until it got to a point where.
Bill Gasiamis (10:50)
realizing it ⁓
Phat (11:04)
I was nauseous, I couldn’t walk my vertigo, I was throwing up. My eyes, I had double vision, and that’s when it really hit me.
Bill Gasiamis (11:05)
just being vicious. I could be little bit of wimp, I could be the longest three in the I know why.
Friday would have been the worst day, was that kind of progressively getting worse as the days were passing or did it just sort of suddenly come on on Friday?
Phat (11:15)
Friday.
It just suddenly came on on Friday. I had a lingering like small headache, but then it suddenly came on on Friday.
Bill Gasiamis (11:27)
Thank
Hmm. And then from there, were you, let’s go to the hospital or were you trying to play it down again?
Phat (11:40)
I was trying to play it down until Sunday. So I was trying to sleep it off. And then, you know, by the time Sunday hit, you know, finally my girlfriend just called the ambulance and that’s when they came and then they checked me out and they found out I was having a stroke.
Bill Gasiamis (11:58)
I had a similar experience. I noticed, I didn’t hear anything, but I noticed numbness in my big toe, my left toe. And that was on a Friday. And then it was slowly, the numbness was spreading from my toe to my foot, to my ankle. And then by the Friday later, so seven days later, nearly eight days later, the numbness had gone down my entire left side.
Phat (12:07)
Mmm.
Bill Gasiamis (12:27)
So I was progressively getting worse every day. It was slowly creeping up as the blood vessel kept leaking. The blood clot got bigger and bigger. And my wife was telling me, you need to go to the hospital. You need to get a checked out, all that kind of stuff. I went to the chiropractor because I thought I’d done something to my back. And that’s why I had a pinched a nerve. I thought something like that. Chiropractor couldn’t find anything. I went back to the chiropractor the Friday. The chiropractor said, you need to go to the hospital because
whatever’s happening to your left side is not happening because of your ⁓ back or your spine or any of that stuff. And instead of going to the hospital when he said so, I went home. My wife said, you what did he say? I told her, I told her that he said I should go to the hospital. She said, why are you at home? ⁓ I was reluctant the whole time. Like I didn’t wanna go because I had work to do, I was busy.
Phat (13:13)
Really?
Rehabilitation Journey Begins
Bill Gasiamis (13:26)
It was really busy work week. We were helping out a whole bunch of clients. So yeah, it was insane, but what you’re describing that delay, the delay is very familiar.
Phat (13:35)
Phat’s insane.
You know, that’s the first time I’ve heard someone that has a similar experience to mine and I can relate with you. You know, I was like, it’s okay. And there was a lot going on. didn’t want to, you know, delay certain things that was going on. I was in the process of closing on a house and stuff. So I’m like, okay, let’s just finish this up. You know, I didn’t want it to put me behind or nothing.
Bill Gasiamis (14:01)
Yeah. What kind of work were you doing?
Phat (14:03)
You know, I was doing engineering, so I’m an engineer for Boeing.
Bill Gasiamis (14:08)
Yeah, pretty intense job.
Phat (14:11)
Yeah, you know, I do see that, but it wasn’t because of stress. I don’t believe it was. Because I really did have a good, I feel like I did have a good balance of with my stress and also a balance of, you know, play and stuff like that too. And I felt like I was handling it okay.
Bill Gasiamis (14:31)
smoking, drinking, any of that kind of stuff.
Phat (14:34)
You know, before then I was smoking and drinking more, but I wasn’t smoking that much. Before the stroke, I probably had quit about a year before that, but I was smoking before that for about like 10 years, 15 years.
Bill Gasiamis (14:41)
Yeah.
Yeah, again, familiar. I was 37 when I had my bleed the first time and I was also, yeah, yeah, that’s crazy. Like it happens around the same age for so many people I’ve interviewed between the age of 35 and 40 when they’ve had bleeds specifically. I don’t know why. And my, and I was smoking for,
Phat (14:58)
⁓ we’re like the same age.
joke, yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (15:19)
I was 37, so I was smoking from the age of 13 or 14 on and off. Um, I wasn’t drinking heavily, but it was drinking. But again, my thing was, um, something I was born with. was potentially going to bleed at some point. And, um, it’s just one of those things. Uh, but I think that my, uh, my lifestyle didn’t.
Phat (15:36)
all yours.
Bill Gasiamis (15:44)
It didn’t make things better. It sort of created the perfect storm for it to bleed. And that’s why since then I don’t drink and I don’t smoke 100%. You know, like I’ve just completely stopped. I have a drink maybe once a year.
Phat (15:56)
yeah, I’m the same way too, I just…
Yeah, I get you. I was never like a heavy drinker maybe once a weekend, you know, but now I completely stop smoking or drinking. It just doesn’t interest me.
Bill Gasiamis (16:09)
Yeah, what were the early days like?
Were you scared? Was it confusing? How do you deal with the initial diagnosis and your brain’s bleeding?
Phat (16:21)
Yeah, you know, in the beginning, it was a big shock. know, I think looking at me now, you know, you couldn’t tell. But, you know, I’ve built up to this point. But the biggest thing was I had complications when I had the stroke and, know, I had ⁓ my brain was swelling and so they had to do a second surgery on me to remove part of my brain. And so then that’s what left me with the, you know,
disabilities and stuff, which, you know, I had most of the symptoms that most stroke survivors experience, spasticity, aphasia. I had tremors, know, partial paralysis, my balance, vision, things like that. But yeah, it was tough for sure, just coming home and at first you’re just so busy in the hospital working to regain, you know, yourself again, to rebuild yourself. But coming home, yeah, it’s just a…
It hits you because you can’t do anything that you used to do. And everything changes, know, even your relationships change.
Bill Gasiamis (17:22)
Yeah.
Which part of the brain did they take out man? And why did they need to take it out? Was it just a blood vessel that burst or?
Mental Challenges of Recovery
Phat (17:33)
They took part of my cerebellum out and it was because after they repaired, since I had a hemorrhagic stroke, they repaired that vessel. It was, my brain started swelling and there was blood just filling up so then they had to remove part of my brain so they can allow space for it to swell up.
Bill Gasiamis (17:59)
Wow.
Phat (18:00)
Yeah, so I don’t know, you know, they decided to remove part of my brain, but it ended up working out. Actually before that, before they removed the second surgery, I was completely partially paralyzed. But in a way, since that happened, I had some movement.
Bill Gasiamis (18:18)
It’s just crazy, isn’t it? I had a recent brain scan where, because I’ve been having a lot of headaches and to throw caution into the wind, like they went and got me another brain scan literally about six months ago. And it was the first time I saw what my brain looks like after brain surgery. And there’s like a canal.
Phat (18:37)
they do.
Yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (18:47)
like a canal from my ear, that’s all, there’s like an entry wound and then there’s a line that goes in to the spot where they went and removed the blood vessel, like where the damage has caused my deficits, the ones that are still with me. And it’s just intense that you can have a little bit of your brain missing or gone or whatever removed and you’re still functioning. It is just amazing how far technology and how far
Phat (19:04)
Yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (19:17)
Medicine has come.
Phat (19:18)
Yeah, that’s so incredible. The human body too, it makes you think about it. You know, I hear different things about, and just knowing like parts of our brain is dead, you know, and it’s able to, you know, regain different things. Neuroplasticity, right?
Bill Gasiamis (19:36)
Yeah. How long did it take you to get back on your feet after you realized you can’t walk?
Phat (19:42)
It took me about a year, but at that time I was still using a walker.
Yeah, so about a year.
Bill Gasiamis (19:47)
And then from a walker, it
become, how do you take the first steps away from a walker? What happened to allow that progression?
Phat (19:57)
you
You know, I was told to use a cane and it would have helped me big time. But what I did was I skipped the cane and and then I use I just did it without the walker and I slowly built up built up the confidence. You kind of adjust. think each each time you transition like from one one from wheelchair to walker, you know, and then without the walker, you have to.
Re-adapt the whole time and so that’s what I kind of did and it was ugly, know I fell a lot and stuff, but that’s what I did. I just kind of went for it
Bill Gasiamis (20:33)
So for those of you watching on YouTube, you might’ve noticed the change in scenery. That’s because the first part of the interview was recorded more than a week ago. And we had some technical difficulties because fat was in the car and we couldn’t get a decent connection. So we’re reconvening with that fat at home.
Phat (20:55)
Yeah, this is is better better connection
Bill Gasiamis (20:58)
Way better. And we finished the discussion off by me asking you a question about what you had said about how you continued your rehabilitation alone, where you were meant to be walking with the the Walker and you ditched it. And I was wondering, did your team find out that you weren’t walking with a Walker? Did they kind of like suss out that you
We’re being, what’s the word, maybe a little bit risky or unsafe in the way that you were going about your rehab.
Phat (21:34)
Yeah, you know, I didn’t, I kind of, didn’t mention it to them really, but there was one of them that I did mention it to and she recommended I use a cane to be safe. And, you know, I did, I did say, tell her that I was trying it without it because I noticed that when I like switch like from the wheelchair in the beginning to the walker, it just like every time you switch, I noticed that you would have to adjust. so
That’s the reason why I just went from the walker just to walking without a cane.
Bill Gasiamis (22:08)
Is it so that there’s less of an adjustment period between one thing to the next thing to the next thing was a kind of like just bypass everything in between and go straight to walking.
Phat (22:18)
Yeah, it was me being risky too, because I know if you fall or something, it could cause a lot of damage. But yeah, it was kind of my risk and my therapist, she wasn’t too happy about it. But I didn’t talk about it that much either. So I kind of kept it a little private too.
Identity Transformation Post-Stroke
Bill Gasiamis (22:40)
what would you say some of the toughest challenges that you faced early on?
Phat (22:44)
I would say the toughest for sure is the mental and getting used to my new identity. You you come home and everything’s completely different. It kind of hits you at once. And I think, you know, living a normal life and then all of a you’re, you have a disability and you know, you can’t do the same things, you know, you could do the independence. So I think it’s all that.
Bill Gasiamis (23:14)
Yeah, you know, the mental, what does that mean for you? Like what is the mental challenge? Like, can you describe it?
Phat (23:24)
Yeah, I would say sadness. think anxiousness, fear. You don’t know what’s going to happen in your future. I think the unknown. Low energy. think those are the things that pop up in my head.
Bill Gasiamis (23:45)
Does it make you kind of overthink in a negative way or are you just comparing your old self to your new self?
Phat (23:51)
I think comparing my old self to my new self.
Bill Gasiamis (23:55)
Hmm. Do you reckon, do you reckon you brought some of that old self with you or is there a pause on the old self and why you’re kind of trying to work out what’s happening moving forward? Because a lot of people will talk about how, you know, their identity gets impacted, especially early on. And then sometimes down the track, when I speak to stroke survivors who are many years down the track, they might talk about how
They brought some of their identity with them and then, and they’ve integrated that old identity into the new way they go about their lives. Early on is the old identity kind of far away over there and then there’s something completely different here. How did you experience it?
Phat (24:44)
Yeah, I think initially there were a lot of things and I wasn’t sure how to handle it. But I think throughout this time, you know, part of me has learned how to process it and resolve it and also rebuild myself. And so I think now, if anything, I take that experience to my present day to learn from and grow from. I feel like I’ve invested in myself enough to ⁓
not feel the same way, the negative things that, you know, were coming in the beginning. But now I think I’ve processed it correctly. And so I think I’m a lot better now.
Bill Gasiamis (25:27)
A lot of stroke survivors always often ask me for a timeline, you how long before this happened? How long before that happened? And we’re all so different, so it doesn’t really apply. But do you have a sense of the time that it took for you to integrate old self with new self? ⁓ I know you ⁓ got a substantial amount of your movement and your function back. How did you integrate?
Phat (25:52)
Yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (25:53)
the two and how long did it take before you kind of felt okay with who you were.
Phat (25:57)
Yeah, that’s a that is a hard question to say it wasn’t like Suddenly everything was okay. It was kind of a process I think as you I mean I’m for over four and a half years now and so it was gradual but I would say initially about Two years, you know is when it took me two years to build myself up to when I could finally work again and Maybe about the two-year mark I felt
like things were starting to come more together. But it was an evolution. feel like, you know, every year, every month or whatever, you learn different things. And so it’s kind of a process. Even today, you know, I’m still learning different things and, you know, it’s changing too in different ways, right? But that’s how was for me.
Bill Gasiamis (26:48)
Yeah.
What kind of person are you? Are you like curious? Are you a problem solver? I’m very interested about kind of understanding how people come to be on my podcast. I know that there’s a portion of people who come on because they want to share their story and help connect to other people. Also share their story to help people through the early days of their own challenge. People also connect to meet me so that we can create a conversation and meet each other.
Phat (26:55)
You know.
Yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (27:19)
How do you go about your, what is your approach to stroke recovery about? What’s the fundamental thing that it’s about?
Phat (27:29)
Yeah, you know, that’s what I love about your podcast because it’s people from all walks of life. And I really like how you set it up. I mean, you say you don’t have to even prepare for it, but I think I’m the type of person. Yeah, I think I am ⁓ naturally a problem solver. think, know, in initially someone asked me if I cried and normally I, I don’t cry. And I remember when I had the stroke, once I got home,
You know, I suddenly broke out in tears and you know, it was with my mom right there. And so it just hit me. know, initially I think, you know, we all get hit with that and our emotions and, you know, everything bottles up and has to come out or should come out. But, um, you know, I am a problem solver. I felt like after time, it gave me some time to process it. And I started thinking a bit like, okay, so how am I going to tackle this?
So I tried to think of it like a problem that I had to solve and I slowly broke it down into pieces and started building myself up. know, I mean, when you look at me now, you you wouldn’t look at me and think like, okay, his stroke probably wasn’t that bad. But you know, it’s a lot different now than it was in the beginning. And so, you know, and that’s why with me, I figured it out. I started figuring out things and slowly improved until where I’m at now.
Bill Gasiamis (28:53)
That whole thing is that if you look at me now, you wouldn’t know that I had a stroke and I don’t come across as somebody who had a stroke, et cetera. And that’s a real challenge for me because I have had the worst week leading up to this interview again. Today’s probably the first day I felt really good, maybe for about four or five days. And I was struggling with fatigue and I was struggling with brain fog and I was struggling with sleep. And I was just a mess.
Phat (29:04)
Yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (29:23)
half the person that I was a week earlier.
And it’s.
I’m always conscious about the fact that I put off of this vibe on my podcast interviews, because I try and be the best version of myself, because you need to be the best version of yourself when you’re interviewing another person, even if you don’t feel the best. ⁓ But at the same time, you want to be, what’s the word like?
Phat (29:38)
That’s so good, yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (29:45)
you wanna be authentic. I mean, that’s the only word I can come up with. And that means that I need to tell people about how I’m feeling during a podcast. Like I might be tired, half asleep. I might even come across a little bit off, but then still, this is sometimes what stroke looks like and the part of stroke.
After the interviews, you may not see, you may not see what it’s like. And I don’t want people comparing themselves to me just because I mostly look okay on a podcast interview.
Phat (30:21)
Yeah, I think that’s the frustrating thing. no matter whether you look like it or don’t, I think we still both experience different types of things in After Effects. And I understand your situation because it is frustrating because a lot of times we might not show it, but we’re still dealing with things that survivors still experience.
Mindset Shifts and Control
And, you know, we in front of the camera, we had to put on a face, right. And even sometimes like at work or in front of my family, they don’t realize I’m still dealing with things. And, you know, even my significant others, there’s things she doesn’t fully understand, and I’m still dealing with it. You know, or I might do something and she’s like, why are you doing that? But she doesn’t realize what I’m going through inside. And the external is one thing and the internal is another.
Bill Gasiamis (31:12)
Yeah, extremely difficult for me to even wrap my head around it still. And, you know, I’m nearly 14 years post first stroke, you know, and I’m 12 years post surgery and there’s so many things that have improved and so many things that are better. But you know, when I’m, my kids were over the other day and they don’t often hang around with me for a long amount of time. So they don’t often see what it’s like for me.
Phat (31:23)
Yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (31:41)
But everyone assumes that I am what’s wrong. Like everyone assumes there’s something wrong. And it’s like, I’m not cranky. There’s nothing wrong. I’m just having a stroke day. Like I can’t be better than what I am right now. And it’s not you, you know, it’s me.
Phat (31:58)
Yeah, big time. Yeah, I really feel like sometimes it’s hard for people to understand too if they haven’t had a stroke, but even for survivors to know that even people with, there are invisible disabilities out there, know, and each stroke is so complex and different. So we’re all, you know, having to deal with different things. And so that’s something to be aware of. And it’s good to be aware of that.
Bill Gasiamis (32:25)
What are some of the things that you still miss out on that you haven’t gone back to or you can’t do anymore or you choose not to do?
Phat (32:36)
Yeah, you know, I used to be a lot more active. I like, I love to snowboard before I can’t do that anymore because my balance is not at that point. And, plus I don’t want to take that risk in case something happens. Like, you know, I get some kind of traumatic brain injury or something or fall. ⁓
You know, my coordination, my fine manipulation isn’t good. My memory isn’t the best. I still have double vision, so I can’t do any type of like, like people are trying to invite me to play pickleball and I definitely can’t do that. You know, I can’t fall and track the ball, you know, plus my balance is horrible. Yeah. You know, I think my processing, I can only retain so much information or like
Multitasking even though I think I believe multitasking isn’t the best but it’s like I can’t multitask, know, so you have to really focus in on one thing You know, I mean I built myself up to this point But it’s hard to do multiple things like if I’m really focused on something it’s hard for me to pay attention to something else Yeah, those are just some things
Bill Gasiamis (33:52)
You know with double vision, I don’t know anything about it. I’ve met so many stroke survivors who have double vision as a result of the stroke.
Phat (34:00)
Yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (34:01)
This might sound like a silly question. If you close one of your eyes, does the double vision go away?
Phat (34:08)
It does go away. So just to explain, it’s just your eyes aren’t… normally your eyes work together, but then one is kind of offset a little bit. So you’re seeing two pictures, but if you close one eye, then the double vision goes away. But in order for you to improve the double vision, you got to train it to work together.
Bill Gasiamis (34:23)
Okay.
Is that some kind of training that you’ve done that you’re continuing to do?
Phat (34:30)
So there’s. ⁓
Yeah, know what I did initially, I saw a vision therapist that I was seeing them for about a year, but it got really expensive. So I stopped. But now I’m just taking what I learned and I’m practicing it on my own. There is an option for people to get surgery, but I am focused on just doing everything naturally. And so it’s still healing as long as I continue to practice it and exercises stay consistent.
But just recently, since I’m doing a lot of things, I haven’t been as good at being consistent with my vision therapy exercises, so it’s actually getting worse.
Bill Gasiamis (35:14)
huh. So what does the surgery do? Does it change the position of the eye?
Phat (35:16)
Yeah.
Yeah, the surgery does change the position and then it corrects it right away. Which there’s a lot of survivors that have done that. My double vision actually was really extreme, but it’s at the point now where it’s almost corrected.
Bill Gasiamis (35:40)
And is that a muscle issue? that like, you know how some strike survivors talk about weakness on their left side? It’s that the muscle activates or becomes deactivated in a particular way. And therefore it doesn’t respond in the same way that it used to. It doesn’t contract and release from the contraction in the same way that it used to. Is that a similar thing that’s happening to the eye?
Breath Control Techniques for Stress Relief
Phat (36:09)
Yeah, it is kind of similar to that. And so what I’ve learned from talking to different therapists, it helps when you like isolate one side and you build that side and strengthen it. And so that’s the part where I’m missing because I’m working them together, but still the affected side is weaker. And so it’s just not strong enough to keep up. It’s kind of like our bodies, like, you know how one side is more affected. So we
is good for us to isolate it and build it and that’s what I try to do with my effective side normally but with the eye it’s more difficult with the eye because you really have to like wear a patch or something you know
Bill Gasiamis (36:50)
Yeah, I hear you. Okay, so you wear a patch, you isolate the other eye, but then at the same time, you’re decreasing the strength of the other eye, or you might be interfering with that one by isolating it.
Phat (37:02)
Yeah, you’re right.
Yeah, that’s exactly it. So you don’t want to patch it too much because you also want the eyes to work together.
Bill Gasiamis (37:09)
Yeah, that sounds like a task. I know going to the gym when I’m ⁓ pushing weights with the barbell, my left side might be pushing the same amount of weight, but it’s never going to become as big or as strong as my right side. It always seems to be just, you know, the few steps behind it, no matter what I do.
it’s improving in strength, but it’s always the weakest link. It’s always the link that kind of makes the last few exercises not possible because it fatigues quicker than the right side.
Phat (37:43)
Yeah.
Yeah, that’s what I deal with too. And a lot of times your dominant side does help it out a lot.
Bill Gasiamis (37:58)
kind of dominant side, my dominant side kind of over helps. And then it puts that side at risk.
Phat (37:58)
So yeah, sometimes.
Yeah, it will help.
Yeah, big time. You know, I’ve learned that there’s different ways to do it. You can build that affected side like with reps and then also sometimes doing a little bit heavier just a few times. I don’t know. I feel like it gets really in depth like how you want to do it. You know, sometimes even like holding a lightweight like up for a long time, it kind of gets heavy and it wants to like fatigue out real fast.
So there’s different variations that I’ve learned throughout this process.
Bill Gasiamis (38:40)
Yeah. Was there a moment, would you say that you had a moment where your mindset shifted and you realized that you were kind of growing through this, even though you had all this challenge and difficulty that you had to overcome?
Phat (38:58)
Yeah, you know, I have to really think about it. It’s kind of just been a process and I’ve kind of accepted so much to happen, but I would say for the longest time over a year, you know, I would go down on myself and think about, ⁓ I miss the old ways. But I think as I’ve continued on this path and
Maybe I don’t think about it as much because I keep myself busy and just trying to recover. so, yeah, but I think I’m trying to think of when it was like kind of like a light bulb moment, but I kind of knew that I couldn’t stay stuck in that because I couldn’t change anything about it. So I had to focus on what I could do or what I had control over.
Bill Gasiamis (39:52)
Yeah, that control part is really important. It seems like people who lose control of things ⁓ tend to, depends if you’re a control freak kind of person, right? Some people really like the illusion of control. They tend to feel good when things are predictable.
I’m kind of that way, I lose, if I lose predictability, take control. I like to take a few steps back and see what I can control. can control the way I think about things, the way I respond to things, the way I act, the way I behave. It becomes about what then I can control on a micro scale. Whereas some people will do control on a macro scale. And some people will control like,
Phat (40:16)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Bill Gasiamis (40:44)
their environment and if their environment is okay, then they’re okay within their environment. But I don’t try and control external things. I try to influence them in a positive way, but I won’t expect an outcome from something that I don’t have any influence over. ⁓ And then I kind of try and work on what do I need to do to feel better about that thing that I am out of control of that I cannot change.
but I can change how I respond to it. That’s kind of where all the work has been. Like where’s the work for you been?
Phat (41:21)
Yeah, you know, I do know that I do practice meditation and even before I had a stroke, I did practice meditation and that is one of the big things from meditation that you just naturally have that mindset to do that and to understand. And so I feel like that practice has actually helped me to be more flexible and accept certain things and focus on what I can control more.
But just to say with the benefits of meditation, a lot of the benefits are specifically for stroke survivors. So I feel like it has helped me tremendously.
Managing Tremors and Physical Recovery
Bill Gasiamis (42:04)
Did it begin, was that kind of one of the tools that helped you to begin to feel hopeful again?
Phat (42:10)
Yeah, to feel hopeful, to be able to focus better, have better memory, I guess reduce the pain that I was feeling, the depression. Yeah, there’s a list of things, yeah, think that’s, those are the ones off the top of my head. Yeah, I know it’s like.
Bill Gasiamis (42:32)
Are you a guided meditation?
Phat (42:35)
You know, I don’t, I just do ⁓ the most simple breath counting meditation. Yeah. It’s kind of, I can explain it, but you just focus on your breathing and counting. So it helps you with your focus too. don’t know. A lot of survivors have a problem with their focus. I did. So, and I still do actually now it’s not like to where I was before the stroke, but it’s getting almost there.
Bill Gasiamis (42:45)
What’s your kid?
Counting how many counts in, how many counts out do you do?
Phat (43:10)
So you do inhale and exhale is one, inhale, exhale two, all the way till ten, and then you start over again. If that makes sense, yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (43:23)
So you just basically trying to get even inhale and exhalations. Are they even? they one is longer than the other or shorter than the other? Like how does it go?
Phat (43:36)
You can do even. I tend to do a longer exhale. Maybe like a, well, cause now I’ve built up the endurance. do about five second in inhale and then like a eight second exhale. But I also put together a PDF. I can send it to anybody for free if they want to just reach out to me. Yeah.
And I can, you can put my information on the show notes. Yeah. It’s a really basic thing I put together if anyone’s interested. And Navy SEALs, use this type of, I mean, it’s also called box breathing. It’s kind of box breathing or meditation. And, you know, I know they use it for like extreme stress and things like that too.
Bill Gasiamis (43:59)
Okay, cool.
helps people calm their autonomic nervous system to go into a parasympathetic state, which is the relaxed state. That’s what the, yeah, the longer exhalation helps people go there. You can basically intervene in a ⁓ heightened anxious state or a stressed state or a upset state. And you can intervene within a few minutes and bring yourself into a calm state just by changing the way that you breathe. You know what’s really cool fat?
Phat (44:29)
That’s exactly it, yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (44:53)
my gosh, I learned this the other day on TikTok. think I saw it. I can’t remember who it was that showed it to me. So unfortunately I can’t credit them, but also people who do yoga or that kind of stuff probably already know this, but to me it was like the most brand new amazing thing that I’ve ever learned. And what it was, if you can see my fingers, right? They said that if you try this, if you press ⁓ your thumb onto the finger after
Phat (44:54)
Yeah.
and
Bill Gasiamis (45:22)
your
little finger, I don’t know what it’s called, finger. So these two, so not your thumb, your thumb and not the little finger, the next one over.
When you breathe, what do you notice? And what I noticed, tell me if you noticed this, is I noticed that my breathing shifts from my belly to my chest.
somehow my chest takes over the breathing. Somehow my breath moves to my chest and it feels like a labored more anxious breath, right? And then if you shift it from that to your thumb and your first finger,
Phat (45:43)
But, sorry, just need to focus.
Thank
Bill Gasiamis (46:06)
your breath automatically shifts to the belly and your diaphragm expands and contracts. And I tried that and I had the most profound experience. The first finger, your first finger and your thumb, two fingers next to them.
Phat (46:16)
really?
on.
Bill Gasiamis (46:26)
Yeah, those two, yeah, yeah. ⁓ I felt like my breath shifted automatically on its own when I did that. And I don’t know if everyone gets that experience. So then for fun, I tried it with my wife and I said to her, can you please do this with your fingers? The first one was the little finger. I wish I knew what they were called, but the finger next to the little finger and the thumb.
Phat (46:26)
this.
really?
Bill Gasiamis (46:54)
I asked her to do that and I asked her to tell me how does that feel when you’re breathing and she said that feels really terrible, I feel anxious. And I said, okay, cool. Now just please change it to the other two fingers, the first finger and your thumb and then see what that feels like. And she said that feels far better and the anxiousness has gone away.
Phat (47:17)
Really? Wow.
Bill Gasiamis (47:18)
Yeah.
So I reckon if you have a play with that and you pay attention, I think I’ve seen a lot of yogis or people who practice yoga or who meditate, think I’ve seen people hold their fingers like that. And as a result of that, perhaps they automatically instinctively activate the diaphragm and the belly breath instead of the chest breath, which is the more anxious breath. It was such an interesting
little hack to experience literally by changing which two fingers you’re pressing together. And it kind of connects to that meditation side of it. And I think it would add for me, it would add something extra to meditation that I previously didn’t know about. So isn’t that fascinating?
Growing an Online Presence and Sharing Stories
Phat (48:09)
Yeah, that is so fascinating. I actually don’t even normally sit like that. I just put my hands in my lap. But I did. If you notice, I still have tremors on this side, and that’s how I actually got my tremors to reduce is I would hold it like this sometimes and just meditate. And then it’s just like heels or something. But yeah, before it used to shake a lot. Now it’s a lot better.
Bill Gasiamis (48:17)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. So do the meditation from now on.
Phat (48:39)
but sometimes just doing these
finger taps.
Bill Gasiamis (48:42)
Yeah, right. That’s for coordination and that, right.
Phat (48:44)
Okay,
you might try that. Yeah, yeah. Also you do use the pointer finger and the thumb.
Bill Gasiamis (48:47)
Yeah, try those first two fingers. Make a circle with it.
That’s it, is that what it’s called, the pointer finger?
Phat (48:55)
Okay
Bill Gasiamis (48:57)
just connects to your belly.
Phat (48:59)
I’m off to the end.
Bill Gasiamis (49:01)
I have no idea how, but I love it. love that it does. It’s such a cool thing.
Phat (49:05)
Yeah, especially
you feel that I’m gonna try it. Yeah
Bill Gasiamis (49:10)
So you know that tremor that you said about your hand, is that also in your leg?
Phat (49:15)
No, it’s only the hand.
Bill Gasiamis (49:17)
and it it gets worse when you are tired, I imagine.
Phat (49:19)
Yeah.
Yeah, it does get worse under like pressure or if I’m tired. Yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (49:32)
but you’ve found that it’s settled down a lot since the early days.
Phat (49:37)
Yeah, it has. So as I continue to build it, it has.
Yeah, in the beginning it was really bad, but I continued to do different things. A lot of resistance training, like with rubber bands and stuff like that, yeah. I do different things.
Bill Gasiamis (49:58)
Do you remember what it was like in the early days? Is that the dominant hand that you use or?
Phat (50:05)
No, it’s not my dominant hand.
Bill Gasiamis (50:08)
Did they make you try and use it too? Okay.
Phat (50:09)
because I’m bright, dumb, and…
Yeah, they said they want me to use it. Sometimes I do get lazy too. I try different things, like even for a time frame I’ll brush my teeth with my effective side, my non-dominant. But a lot of times I get lazy because it is a lot slower. So I just go to my dominant hand. I’m still guilty of it.
Bill Gasiamis (50:39)
just to get the job done quicker.
Phat (50:41)
Yeah, yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (50:42)
Tell me a little bit about your, ⁓ your Instagram page.
Phat (50:49)
Okay. Well, I started an Instagram page. It’s called Hope for Stroke Survivors. And initially, I just made it for myself to collect information on recovery. Because I felt like I was limited on the information out there. And I would find some stuff on social media. And so I started collecting it for myself and
know, eventually I made it public and I started, people started following it and gravitating towards it. And so I decided to start sharing different like tips. And then I continued to do that and more people started following it until I think that was around a year after my stroke. And now I just continue to do that and it’s grown to this point now. And so
I felt like a part of it was kind of my outlet. You know, you know, I’m passionate about strokes and I want to share and provide awareness. so, yeah, I started for myself, but now it’s grown to where it’s at now. And I feel like, you know, it’s, I want to provide hope and also share different people’s stories because I really enjoy, and I still enjoy seeing comeback stories. And so, you know, that’s what happened with that. And so now it’s been about, what is it?
for four years or something. Yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (52:19)
Hope for stroke survivors like 11.6K followers.
Phat (52:23)
Yes, call them.
I’m sorry, what was that?
Bill Gasiamis (52:26)
It’s got 11.6K followers, 929 posts, and in the description it says, don’t fear change, trust the process. My goal is to spread hope while recovering from a severe stroke. Check out the stories from fellow stroke survivors too.
Phat (52:45)
Yeah, you know, after a while, I felt like, ⁓ I want to share survivor stories. feel like bring our community together. There’s a lot of survivors out there that are doing great things like yourself. You know, I found your stuff. And so, you know, I feel like it really gives a lot of us, you know, motivation, hope to believe what’s possible out there, because a lot of us have.
you know, we get the wrong information, you know, I want to be able to show people what’s possible because a lot of times, you know, there’s like myths or whatever, and I just want to give people that hope. So I’ve expanded it to YouTube and also TikTok. And so, yeah, it’s grown tremendously on YouTube also. So it’s pretty cool.
Bill Gasiamis (53:33)
now.
What kind of content you put out on YouTube?
Phat (53:37)
I, the same stuff, I pretty much just blast the same thing on. Well, now I’m starting to do more, I want to do more interviews, but recently I have kind of cut back on it because of time, but I want to do more interviews for like survivors and therapists and doctors on YouTube. I think that’s where I want to take it.
Bill Gasiamis (54:00)
Yeah.
Yeah. To kind of share more information about the kind of ways that they help other people.
Phat (54:08)
Yeah, it’s exactly like, you know, what you’re doing. I think that’s amazing. I mean, you helped me out so much. remember yours is actually my top podcast and I would listen to it all the time.
Bill Gasiamis (54:13)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, I really appreciate that. mean, you know what I love is that you’ve been doing this for four years. I’ve been doing this for 10. Somehow you’ve cracked the code. You’ve got 36.8k subscribers. I’ve barely got 8,000. So that’s very interesting to me. Like how that some channels that share pretty much the same type of content grow. And then mine has been going for 10 years and I can’t seem to get above 10,000 subscribers. What’s your trick? know, like how did you manage to get that many subscribers?
Is there something that you do consistently? I’m also asking for me, but at the same time, there’ll be other stroke survivors who are thinking about starting a YouTube channel perhaps, or thinking about sharing some way or growing this type of a community. And they’re reluctant because they don’t know what they need to do and they don’t know what could happen. Now I’m not completely dissatisfied with 8,000 followers. I’m perfectly satisfied with that.
But of course I wanna make sure I reach way more stroke survivors because that’s the whole point of this is to get out. Do you have any tips as to what it was that kind of helped the channel grow so fast?
Phat (55:25)
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, you know, I think a big one is consistency. You know that. But, you know, I have learned a lot of things. read a lot and a part of it is also. Initially, I would share other survivors stories and also it was ⁓ like even survivors in who have had like cancer or different types of sicknesses.
And so initially I was just doing that for fun. so then I think it attracted more people because it was a variety of things. But then, you know, I know that I didn’t plan to do it. if it’s. If I was going to do that, I don’t want to share other people’s things, you know, like if I want to be more serious, I have to niche down or I got to share my own stuff because I don’t want to take stuff from people. But initially.
I was sharing a bunch of stuff and not wanting, I wasn’t expecting it to grow like that and I was just doing it for my own reason, for my own purpose and I think that’s how it attracted so many people too.
Bill Gasiamis (56:46)
Yeah. Look, it’s, it’s very cool that, um, the people have subscribed. Absolutely. And what’s good about it, even though it’s not all your content, it doesn’t really matter because if you’re putting content out there that people, uh, I mean, you’re not stealing the content, you’re not changing the names or anything like that or repurposing it. All you’re doing is, um, uh, all you’re doing is kind of pointing people to the direction of somebody else’s content channel or whatever. you know what I mean?
Phat (56:58)
Yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (57:17)
⁓ but I know what you’re saying.
Phat (57:18)
Yeah, yeah.
mean, I would always put their contact or their credit. But that wasn’t my intent of doing it. And I’m not making any money off of it. But then I’m learning about, OK, what can I do to make this bigger and help more people? And now I’m trying to focus down or just come up with my own content so that way people can see that too.
Bill Gasiamis (57:31)
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah. ⁓ I think there’s not enough voices in stroke recovery and awareness and support and why, you know, we need more. need every version of person, how they’re affected and different cultural backgrounds and that we need way more people kind of putting content out and sharing their version of the story. My story resonates with you, but it might not resonate with someone else, you know? So if, if we can have more people out there listening, who are curious about it.
Phat (57:53)
Yeah.
You’re right, you’re right.
Bill Gasiamis (58:17)
⁓ biting the bullet and doing it.
It would be fantastic if that happened and then more people to collaborate with.
Phat (58:21)
You know, I think it’s
Yeah, I think it’s easy to pay attention to the subscribers or the followers, but a lot of times too, the way how I did it is if it can just help one person, you know, that makes me happy and then it just grew like that. But that’s what I continue to do. You know, I mean, maybe there’s more subscribers.
but maybe your content is connecting really deeply with more people, you know? So I feel like it can’t always be compared exactly to the followers. And if you’re a survivor, you know, I wouldn’t want to let you feel like demotivated because of that. you know, I think if you’re passionate about it, just do it. you know, I think there’s plenty of room for a bunch of people, right? Like you were saying.
Bill Gasiamis (59:15)
I what you said, like if you’re just passionate, just do it. That’s why I started, I didn’t start out to get a certain number of subscribers or anything like that. I just started out to share. What’s cool is that the subscribers have happened. What’s fascinating is to view like how other people have grown their channel. what, it’s a completely different version of what you’ve done and yours has grown and I’m just keen to learn about it. And I think it will encourage or help other people, you know, do the same thing.
Phat (59:24)
Yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (59:45)
⁓ And that’s kind of why I raised it. What I love about what you said is if it helps one person, like I said the same thing, dude, it helps so many more than one person. You just don’t know it because very few people reach out. Not that you’re expecting them to, but people just get the help and then they move on and they go and do good stuff. And it’s like, even better.
⁓ But every so often I get people like you sending me messages going Thanks for that episode. That was a great interview. I really got a lot out of that Can you point me in this direction or can you connect me with that person? One of the things that I do best I think then better than anything is I can connect people from all around the world with people who Are ⁓ listening and they want to get information about the thing that you tried or that service that you
⁓ purchased or whatever, you that’s what I love about it the most is I can connect people and they could be on different continents. And I love that I can do that from Australia, you know, like it’s crazy.
Understanding Stroke Recovery
Phat (1:00:58)
Yeah
Yeah. And especially, yeah, it has affected me too. You know, like I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t be standing here like this if I didn’t hear your podcast. You know, I could literally say that, you know, so that’s pretty cool. Yeah. And you’re in Australia. I’m in Arizona.
Bill Gasiamis (1:01:17)
It’s fabulous, man. It’s so fascinating. That’s one of the things I love about technology is that with time, technology will improve and make things better for people. And hopefully it’ll help way more people than it’s helping at the moment. It’s definitely helped me with my mental health, having this podcast, this platform, because I can speak to, know, you know, 380 plus interviews now. like all those conversations have helped me ⁓ in my recovery and
Phat (1:01:35)
Yeah, that too, yeah.
Bill Gasiamis (1:01:47)
and that you just can’t buy that. If I had to sit there with counsel over 380 times, that’s just not doable. I cannot afford that. can’t find the resources to have 380 conversations with a counselor who doesn’t really get me still.
Phat (1:02:00)
Yeah.
That’s amazing, Bill. Yeah, you know, I don’t know. I’m passionate about it. I’m sure you are too. And I can be tired, but as soon as I do this, I can do it all day. I don’t care if I don’t get paid or nothing. It’s just, you know, I went through it and I want other people to, you know, be helped too.
Bill Gasiamis (1:02:28)
Does it contribute to meaning, life meaning and purpose for you? Because it does for me plenty.
Phat (1:02:36)
Yeah, big time. And I see so many advocates in the community that I respect so much too. you know, I think now that Hope for Stroke Survivors has grown to this point, I want it to be, to bring everyone together too. think that that’d be awesome, you know.
Bill Gasiamis (1:02:55)
Yeah, that would be great. As we wrap up, man, I’m just wondering, people are listening, they’ve listened for the first time, they’ve just landed on our podcast, maybe they don’t know anything about me or you, but what would you pass on, like, a little bit of wisdom to somebody who’s just starting their recovery now?
Phat (1:03:13)
What I would say is that you’re not alone. You know, and there’s a community of survivors who have gone through it. I think, you know, just take it one step at a time and just know that you can lean on this community of people to help you.
uplift you. know, I think a lot of people around us aren’t going to understand exactly what we’re going through. And so just remember that you’re not alone in this journey. And it’s possible.
Bill Gasiamis (1:03:49)
And on that note, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast. really appreciate it.
Phat (1:03:53)
All right, Bill, thank
you so much. Yeah. Thank you for your time,
Bill Gasiamis (1:03:58)
Before you go, I want to leave you with this. If you heard something in this episode that helped you put words to your own experience, you’re not imagining it and you’re not alone. Stroke recovery isn’t linear. Symptoms aren’t always obvious and healing doesn’t stop just because you look fine. If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who might need it. Leave a comment on YouTube if you’re watching or send it to a survivor who’s early in their recovery.
And if you want more support, my book is at recoveryafterstroke.com slash book. And to support the podcast, help keep the lights on, go to patreon.com slash recovery after stroke.
Links for everything mentioned including turn2.ai are in the show notes.
Thank you for being here and listening. I’ll see you on the next episode.
