Leslie is only 31 years old and right now she is in the ICU fighting for her life. What started as Stage IV cancer has turned into a battle against multiple life-threatening infections, emergency surgery, and days on a ventilator. She is still here, still fighting, and we need all the prayers and support we can get. Many of you have been asking for an update on my wife, Leslie Staples, so I wanted to take a moment to share what has been happening. Recently, things took a sudden and terrifying turn. She became extremely sick and had to be rushed to the emergency room with severe abdominal pain and vomiting. When she arrived, her blood pressure had dropped dangerously low, her heart rate was extremely high, and her abdomen had become severely distended. Doctors quickly discovered her colon had become dangerously swollen and she was developing abdominal compartment syndrome, a life-threatening condition where pressure inside the abdomen begins shutting down the body’s organs. She was rushed into emergency surgery on February 22 after she coded and had to be resuscitated, where surgeons performed a major operation and created a loop colostomy to relieve the pressure and save her life. Since that moment, Leslie has been in the Surgical ICU at UAB, fighting battle after battle. On top of recovering from emergency surgery, she is currently battling multiple serious infections at once, including: • C. diff colitis • Pseudomonas pneumonia in her lungs • A fungal infection in her bloodstream • Sepsis • Influenza B • kidney infection • UTI Her heart has also been affected during this fight. At one point doctors found her heart function had dropped to about 30–35%. Today we received a small piece of good news — it has improved slightly to 35–40%. Because of the pneumonia and breathing complications, Leslie had to be placed back on a ventilator on March 3rd to help her body rest and recover. Today she has actually been breathing mostly on her own all day using the ventilator’s spontaneous setting, meaning she is doing the breathing herself while the machine assists if needed. The team considered removing the ventilator today, but they decided to wait until the Pseudomonas infection in her lungs improves so she has the best chance of staying off of it. Even while on the ventilator, Leslie has been awake, alert, and finding ways to communicate without being able to speak. She nods, squeezes hands, and lets us know she understands what’s going on. Her vital signs today have been strong, which is encouraging. Despite everything her body has been through, small moments keep reminding us that Leslie is still Leslie. The other morning the TV had been switched to some random infomercial. I asked her if she wanted me to change it and she nodded yes. I started scrolling through channels asking if she wanted this show or that one, and she kept shaking her head no. Then I landed on Reba. She immediately started nodding excitedly and was so happy she even knocked the oxygen sensor off her finger in the process. When her sister is here, they’ve been spending time listening to music together and watching movies, just trying to keep things as normal as possible in a place that is anything but normal. Those little moments mean everything right now. The truth is, Leslie has already survived things doctors warned me she might not survive. But anyone who knows her knows this: She is stubborn. She is strong. And she is an absolute fighter. Right now we are taking things hour by hour and day by day. If you believe in prayer, please say one for Leslie tonight. If you don’t pray, please send good thoughts her way. We still have a long road ahead, but Leslie is still here… and she is still fighting. — Justin If you feel comfortable doing so, please share this post so more people can pray for Leslie and follow her fight.💜 Trying a different format today to see how it goes.