Jeff Manuel: Raising My Kids Through a Stroke and Learning to Like Myself AgainJeff Manuel: Raising My Kids Through a Stroke and Learning to Like Myself Again
Recovery After Stroke
Jeff Manuel talks about rebuilding his life as a single dad after a stroke, heart attack and long rehab stay, including changes in his mindset, habits and family relationships. The conversation touches on pain management, alcohol and smoking, and his growing sense that recovery is also about liking himself again.
32:56•15 Jul 2026
Jeff Manuel on Stroke, Parenting and Learning to Like Himself Again
Episode Overview
- Jeff describes how a right-side brain haemorrhage, clot and recent heart attack dramatically changed his work and family life.
- He shares the emotional impact of long hospital and rehab stays while trying to stay present for his teenage children.
- Jeff is open about past heavy drinking, current smoking and occasional alcohol use, and hears direct advice on how they may affect recovery.
- He explains using medicinal cannabis gummies for post-stroke pain instead of pharmaceutical drugs, which he felt weren’t helping.
- Jeff emphasises small daily improvements, a renewed sense of self-worth and seeing this period as a personal rebirth.
“Once you get over what has happened, you become a better person. I like myself again, because I know I'm a good person.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety and recovery when life throws everything at them at once? This episode follows Jeff Manuel, a single dad of two teenagers whose stroke at 52 upended his busy life of working two jobs, parenting across households, and using alcohol to cope with long-standing grief.
You’ll hear Jeff talk through the day his life changed: a normal Saturday morning coffee run turned into a frightening trip to hospital, a diagnosis of a right-side brain haemorrhage, and the shock of learning he’d likely had a heart attack the week before. Left-side paralysis, three months in hospital and then two years in a residential rehab community forced him to rebuild everything, from walking attempts to learning to cook one-handed.
Jeff is candid about drinking too much before the stroke, smoking, and using alcohol to manage the pain of losing close family members to cancer. He describes how the stroke, extended rehab, and now long-term care have shifted his priorities, especially as a father trying to set an example for his kids.
There’s a frank conversation with host Bill Gasiamis about smoking, occasional drinking, and how they might slow brain healing, framed around Jeff’s deep wish to get back on his feet. Alongside the medical details and hospital timelines, the heart of this episode is Jeff’s mindset shift. He talks about noticing tiny daily improvements as his brain rewires, using medicinal cannabis gummies to manage post-stroke pain, and seeing this period as a “rebirth” rather than an ending.
His relationship with his ex-wife has softened, his kids have stepped up, and he’s learned to value simple encouragement and human connection. If you’re juggling recovery, parenting, old habits and grief, Jeff’s honesty about liking himself again might be exactly the kind of real-world hope you need right now. What part of his story feels closest to your own?
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