💔🙏 He Thought He Was Just Exhausted From Work and Fatherhood — Then Doctors Said “Leukemia”

Albert Carranza thought he was simply exhausted.

As a working father in Texas raising three girls, there seemed to be an obvious explanation for why he had been feeling so drained.

Work. Parenthood. Life.

But the real reason was something no one in his family could have imagined.

Cancer.

Albert and his wife, Gabby, had already fought hard to build their family. After struggling to conceive and experiencing two unsuccessful IVF attempts, they finally welcomed their daughter in 2025.

They are also helping raise two nieces, now 10 and 12.

Both Albert and Gabby work full time for H-E-B, and by the holidays, Albert was increasingly exhausted. His grandmother, Gloria, says everyone initially ᴀssumed it was simply the result of his busy life.

Albert kept pushing forward.

Then, on Super Bowl Sunday, he came home from work with a severe headache and went straight to bed.

Over the next several days, Gloria says Albert sought medical care three times. Each visit pointed toward a sinus infection.

But he continued getting worse.

On Friday, February 13, Albert’s heart began pounding so hard and fast that he returned to an emergency room.

This time, bloodwork revealed that his hemoglobin was dangerously low.

He was transported by ambulance to Methodist Hospital in San Antonio and initially admitted to the cardiology floor.

Then came the moment that changed everything.

Albert was told he was being moved to oncology.

Soon afterward, his new doctor gave Albert and Gabby the diagnosis:

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

The working dad who thought he was simply tired was suddenly fighting for his life.

His first hospitalization lasted more than a month. Gloria says Albert missed his daughter’s first birthday and his wedding anniversary while confined to a hospital room.

The months that followed brought three hospitalizations, chemotherapy, blood and platelet transfusions, lumbar punctures and bone marrow biopsies.

When one round of chemotherapy failed to produce the response doctors wanted, Albert eventually underwent CAR-T cell therapy.

And then, finally, came the news the family had been praying for.

On July 10, Albert’s latest bone marrow biopsy showed that he was in remission. 🙏❤️

But his journey is not over.

Gloria says Albert still needs a bone marrow transplant, expected in September. The procedure will involve additional chemotherapy, radiation and another hospitalization expected to last roughly a month.

After the transplant comes another critical stage: approximately 100 days of recovery, during which doctors will closely monitor Albert for potentially serious complications, including graft-versus-host disease.

Gabby plans to step away from her job at H-E-B to become Albert’s full-time caregiver during this period.

For a family accustomed to working, raising children and taking care of one another, life has suddenly become centered around hospital rooms, treatments and medical uncertainty.

Now they are asking others to stand beside them.

They are asking for prayers that Albert’s transplant is successful, that his body accepts the donor marrow and that he safely makes it through those crucial first 100 days.

Most of all, they are praying for something that may sound simple but means everything to this family:

Going home.

Going home to his wife.

Going home to his daughters.

Going home to the life Albert and Gabby worked so hard to build.

Albert has already fought through months of treatment to reach remission. Now his family is hoping that this next step will bring him closer to putting hospital rooms behind him for good.

🙏 Please keep Albert, Gabby and their girls in your prayers.

And if you are part of the H-E-B family, especially here in Texas, consider leaving this family a message of encouragement.

Sometimes, when the road ahead feels impossibly long, knowing that people are standing beside you can mean more than words can say. ❤️🙏