Democratic Senator Who Suffered Stroke Provides Health Update

Leah Barkoukis | February 14, 2022 8:00 AM

Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Luján offered an update about his health after suffering a stroke last month.

“I’m doing well. I’m strong,” Luján said in a video with two doctors from the University of New Mexico Hospital. “I’m going to walk out of here. I’m going to beat this, and I’m going to be stronger once I come out.”

The Democrat said his recovery will take a bit more time but promised to be back in D.C. to consider President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee.

“I’m proud to report then I’ll be back on the floor of the United States Senate in just a few short weeks to vote on important legislation and to consider a Supreme Court nominee,” he said. “Now rest assured, New Mexicans can know they will have a voice and a vote during this process. That has never changed.”

In the video Sunday, Diana Greene-Chandos, an associate professor of neurology at UNM, said they discovered that a tear in Luján’s vertebral artery was the cause of his stroke. The surgery to relieve pressure in his brain was successful, she said, and he “continues to make significant progress.”
Michel Torbey, the chair of the UNM neurology department, described Luján in the video as “the type of patient who would take his health seriously” and put in the work required for a full recovery. Torbey also emphasized how critical it was that Luján checked himself into a hospital after experiencing dizziness and fatigue, which were symptoms that he had suffered a stroke in the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls balance. (The Washington Post)