Albert’s Story

Site created on December 12, 2021

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.

To family and friends…please bear with me….this is the very first time we’ve been in this situation….we’ve been blessed with good health for so long. 
Al has been the picture of health his entire life. Recently he developed a limp everyone noticed, but he completely denied.  We were in Hawaii and encourage as I may  to have him see the doctor in Hawaii, he insisted on waiting until we returned to Tucson. I made an appointment with our Tucson physician a month before we left Hawaii….and life continued along very well. We returned to Tucson on November 23 and after the long flight we noticed Al had much swelling in both feet. We tried to get an earlier appointment with our physician, but we’re unable, so went to urgent care. They were concerned about a possible blood clot, so sent him to the ER for immediate blood work and an ultra sound.  After 6 hours in the ER they ruled out a blood clot,  but discovered discrepancies in his blood work.  He has had a number of doctor visits, a bone marrow biopsy, and the results are we are fighting acute monocytic leukemia. Our family has been invaluable with help and support. Al’s immune system is very compromised, so we are in complete isolation…..both of us need to avoid any infection. We have attempted to reach out to family and friends, but the task is overwhelming. The kids have introduced us to CaringBridge….so this starts the journey with help. It Is our attempt to have communication with those we love……

Newest Update

Journal entry by Sheri Brenden

Hello all,  Dad’s celebration of life is coming up so,  I thought I would re-post the information.  We are planning to celebrate his life in both Arizona and Hawaii.   The first will be in Arizona at St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church for a mass on Saturday Feb. 19, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. with a reception following at the parish hall.   The address is 5150 N. Valley View Road. Tucson, AZ 85718.   We welcome family and friends.  We are requesting that all guest follow COVID protocol and wear a mask. Please consider sharing stories of special memories of my dad at the reception.
 
We are planning a second celebration of his life in a Hawaii later in the year.  As most of you may know, my dad was great at sharing stories of life experiences, facts about Hawaii, family and Portuguese traditions.  Preserving and sharing the rich history of the past was important to him.  Prior to his death, he met regularly with members of the planning committee of the Portuguese Culture & Historical Center, which is currently at ground level of building in Hawaii.  In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate supporting my dad's dream to preserve history by making donations to the PCHC (Building Fund) in memory of Al Souza.  Website: https://www.portugueseculturehistoricalcenter.org   Or mailing address:  1616 Liliha Street, Suite 306 Honolulu, HI 96817.

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