Be inspired by Pete Rumpel’s holistic recovery journey after a massive stroke. Discover his approach to healing and resilience today!

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Highlights:

00:00 Pete Rumpel’s Introduction and Initial Stroke Details

04:06 Symptoms and Initial Reactions

07:16 Hospital Experience and Initial Recovery

13:00 Holistic Recovery and Emotional Impact

19:42 Lifestyle Changes and Physical Recovery

41:03 Support System and Community

58:21 Emotional Growth and Listening Skills

1:08:47 Final Thoughts and Advice

Transcript:

Pete Rumpel’s Introduction and Initial Stroke Details

Bill Gasiamis 0:00

Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 330, of the Recovery After Stroke Podcast. Today, I’m thrilled to introduce Pete Rumpel, a hemorrhagic stroke survivor who embodies resilience and determination. Pete’s recovery journey is nothing short of inspiring, as he shares how he overcame the physical, emotional and mental challenges of stroke, from adapting to life after a major stroke to embracing a holistic approach to recovery, Pete’s story is filled with lessons on persistence, gratitude and personal growth.

Bill Gasiamis 0:35

Just before we dive into Pete’s journey, I’d like to thank everyone who supports the podcast, if these episodes have brought you hope, insight or encouragement, consider supporting the show on Patreon, at patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke, your support allows me to continue sharing these powerful recovery stories with stroke survivors worldwide. Thank you to all the listeners and supporters, it means so much to me.

Bill Gasiamis 1:05

Pete Rumple, welcome to the podcast.

Pete Rumpel 1:08

Thank you, Bill. It’s great to meet you.

Bill Gasiamis 1:10

It’s great to have you here. Tell me a little bit about what happened to you.

Pete Rumpel 1:15

Well, on December 10 of 2022 I had a massive hemorrhagic stroke, and fortunately, my girlfriend at the time had been a nurse for many years, recognized it, called the people and the first responders who were awesome, and I was thank God I was staying at her place, because it was about 15 minutes away, and it was dramatic. So I’ve been recuperating. I’ve been about 21 months almost to the day, and, you know, I’m just tackling everything I can.

Bill Gasiamis 2:10

Yeah, dramatic. So what caused the bleed? I know there must have been a blood vessel that burst, but what was the underlying cause?

Pete Rumpel 2:20

I had everything, Bill. I recently been divorced, I was in a high-stress job dealing with private equity companies, and I had the kids living with me like it was a stress sandwich and I wasn’t eating right, was definitely drinking too much, and it caught up with me a lot of what you talk about, and made a lot of changes that following day. So we move forward.

Bill Gasiamis 3:03

I call it the perfect storm.

Pete Rumpel 3:05

Yep, I’ve used your vernacular.

Bill Gasiamis 3:08

Yeah, and then it catches up with you, and then you end up in hospital on the day of the hemorrhage. What did you notice? How did it come about, like, what were the symptoms?

Pete Rumpel 3:23

I didn’t really notice anything that day Bill, now that I look back when I’ve heard a lot of what you talked about, it’s clear there were signals for a while when I look back at photos of myself, I’m like ‘Oh God. Like, then all of a sudden, people come out of the woodwork, you know ‘Hey, by the way, you weren’t looking good. And very much similar to you, Bill, I wouldn’t have listened. I was in my own universe, doing my own thing, and you know, got the humbling.

Pete Rumpel’s Symptoms and Initial Reactions

Bill Gasiamis 4:06

Wow, divorce is hard for people always right? And then add that to a really high stress job and the normal parts of life, it’s much, much harder. Had you been the kind of person who had the skills to deal with that much stuff all at once? Or are you just a normal guy who found yourself too far into the deep end and then you had no way out, and you had to use alcohol, for example? Or, you know, how did you find yourself in there?

Bill Gasiamis 4:42

Now, you know they say that the way to boil a frog is to turn up the temperature one degree at a time. The frog doesn’t notice, and then all of a sudden it’s floating like how did you get into that point of life?

Pete Rumpel 4:58

I think, you know, Bill. It’s just like what a lot of the people that I’ve heard discuss it, it kind of, in a way, it sneaks up on you. There were a lot of things that led to it, but they don’t happen in one day. You know, I had been a drinker, but functional, I had a lot of responsibility, and I always, tucked it in as part of my day, but now I started to eat out a lot, I had a lot of pressure. I was doing another thing I hear a lot from the people on your podcast, you know I was focused on me last, do everything else first, and you know that had to change.

Bill Gasiamis 6:12

Yeah, so you’re the person who’s the most important, but you’re the one that’s getting the least care.

Pete Rumpel 6:21

Yes, and I have very good friend of mine out in the west coast, Michael Geller. And he had said time and time again, you know, as much as I like to do different things, I have to take care of number one, or else the rest don’t get taken care of, and I deviated from that, and so I was always surrounded by good people that I could learn from, but I got too far out on my out on my skis, if you will.

Bill Gasiamis 7:01

Who else was around in the family, was there in a family, an extended family? Who else other people that need love, care, support that you were kind of also responsible for at that time?

Hospital Experience and Initial Recovery

Pete Rumpel 7:16

Well, my kids, but they’re wrapped up in their stuff. One of my daughters had gone off to college out in Hawaii, the other one was wrapping up high school, my sister was near me, and she is awesome, and she kept telling me ‘Pete, you’ve gotta, you gotta do better, you gotta go the doctor. You’ve gotta do things. I was like ‘I’ll get there. I’ll get there. And, you know, when I went, I went with the bang.

Bill Gasiamis 7:55

So how did you get to hospital? Did somebody, did you get picked up by an ambulance. What was that event like? What actually happened on the day of the incident?

Pete Rumpel 8:07

Yeah Bill, it was a ambulance and my girlfriend at the time, called them to come. I was getting up early as about 4 in the morning, I was going to head home, and they came instead. And I was really lucky that I was at her place, and I was really lucky the hospital was right down the road, and she made the call for me. So it’s basically saved my life.

Bill Gasiamis 8:39

How long did you spend in the hospital?

Pete Rumpel 8:44

A month.

Bill Gasiamis 8:47

What were the deficits you were dealing with?

Pete Rumpel 8:49

It was the right side. So I didn’t have any movement in my arm, totally flaccid. Now I can do stuff fortunately, I couldn’t walk. I was in a wheelchair for almost six months, and that’s getting better, although it’s not pretty, and I’m endeavoring to be a community ambulator, but not there yet, but I’m working on it, and I can walk without a cane and and do stuff. I’ve even did about 15 yards of a run just to see what it looked like, and it was a little scary, but you know, again, I continue to push.

Bill Gasiamis 9:46

We’ll take a quick break here, and we’ll be back shortly with more of Pete’s journey. While you’re here, I want to remind you about my book The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened. It’s not just my personal story, it’s a guide to post-traumatic growth after stroke, featuring insights and stories from stroke survivors like Pete, who found ways to rebuild and thrive, whether you’re navigating your own recovery or supporting a loved one who is this book offers hope, practical steps and a roadmap to resilience.

Bill Gasiamis 10:19

You can find it on Amazon by searching for my name, Bill Gasiamis, or head to recoveryafterstroke.com/book, to learn more. Yeah, What’s an ambulator?

Pete Rumpel 10:33

It’s basically like being able to be a walking citizen. They actually time it Bill, so when you’re an ambulator, it basically means you’re walking, an