On the morning of Wednesday, July 23, 2026, my wife Maribeth suffered a major hemorrhagic stroke — a type of stroke caused by sudden bleeding inside the brain. This was not a warning. It was not a gradual onset. It was sudden, violent, and terrifying.

What makes her situation especially critical is where the bleeding occurred: near the brain stem. The brain stem is the most essential region of the human brain. It controls everything that keeps us alive without us even thinking about it — our breathing, our heartbeat, our blood pressure, our ability to remain conscious. A hemorrhagic stroke in this area is among the most serious and life-threatening neurological events a person can experience. The survival window is narrow. The margin for error is almost none.

Beth was rushed by emergency services to the hospital, where she was immediately admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at St. Joseph’s in Tacoma. She has been there ever since — on close monitoring, with a medical team working around the clock to keep her stable and to give her every possible chance.

As of this morning, Saturday, July 25, she is still in the ICU. Still fighting. And I am still here — by her side, and now reaching out to yours.

Her Current Condition

I want to be honest with you, because Beth deserves honesty, and so do you.

Her condition is critical. The medical team is managing the bleeding, monitoring the pressure in her brain, and watching her vital signs with extraordinary care. Because the stroke occurred so close to the brain stem, every hour carries weight. The doctors are watching for swelling, for further bleeding, for any sign of change — good or bad. Every update they give me, I receive with trembling hands and a prayer already on my lips.

She may require neurosurgical intervention — procedures to relieve pressure or address the source of the bleed. We do not yet know the full extent of the damage. What the stroke will take from her — her speech, her movement, her memory, her independence — we will not fully understand until she is stable enough for a clearer picture to emerge.

What we do know is this: the road ahead is long. Even if she survives the acute phase — and we are praying with everything we have that she does — she will face weeks or months of intensive inpatient rehabilitation, followed by ongoing outpatient therapy. Recovery from a brain stem hemorrhagic stroke, when it happens, is measured not in days, but in years. Every small breakthrough will be earned, hard-fought, and celebrated.