On March 10, 2006, Gallegos released a statement acknowledging that he was in a one-month residential treatment program for his alcoholism. On January 11, 2007, Gallegos announced that he was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, and would require a liver transplant, and on January 19, 2007, Gallegos received a liver transplant at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. His liver donor was 16-year-old Robby Joe Trevino Jr. of Fort Worth, Texas who died unexpectedly from Cardiomyopathy. According to a statement from Gallegos prior to the surgery, he would miss about 18 days of the Regular Session of the 80th Legislature.