“Lisa Marie Westbrook admits that she shrugged off the warnings about high blood pressure. But seven years ago at age 40, she suffered an ischemic stroke that robbed her of the ability to walk and talk. After a long rehabilitation, she regained those skills. Today, Westbrook said one arm still is weak, but she’s made changes in her diet, uses prescribed medications, and walks regularly and monitors her blood pressure at home. “Before I had my stroke, I knew I had high blood pressure, but I didn’t realize it was so uncontrolled,” said Westbrook, a Spokane mother of three. Doctors in 2015 told her that her high blood pressure likely caused the stroke”.
