Liver disease caused by diabetes that went undiagnosed for years

MUNDY TOWNSHIP — Not so long ago, Robert Darrell Hughey was still playing in a band, riding his Harley, running in the Crim, and working.

Today, the 66-year-old Mundy Township man is fighting for his life, battling a disease brought on by another disease, one that went undiagnosed, probably for a decade or more.

And now, Hughey and his family are hoping to find a living donor who can give him a chance to regain some semblance of his old life.

“This has been hard on him,” said Hughey’s wife, Shirley. “It’s been hard to watch him go through it. We are hoping someone will be generous enough to save his life, so he can watch his grandchildren grow up.”

Hughey’s journey began in 2009, when he switched doctors. The new doctor quickly discovered that Hughey had been suffering from diabetes, apparently for quite some time.

Over time, the diabetes caused fatty tissue to build up in the liver, resulting in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH. The fatty tissue, in turn, caused scarring, or cirrhosis, in the liver, which led to a host of other life-threatening issues.

In 2013, Hughey’s condition took a sinister turn when swollen veins, called varices, burst in his esophagus, causing massive internal bleeding. The varices occurred because scar tissue in the liver blocked the flow of blood, sending it through vessels not equipped to handle it.

It nearly cost him his life, and he spent more than a week in intensive care.

It happened again in 2018. Since then, his condition has deteriorated. Shirley said the last two years have been “the worst.” Hughey was forced to retire about 18 months ago, and now his calendar is filled with doctor’s appointments.

Shirley keeps a list of his medical conditions tucked under a magnet on the refrigerator. In her purse, she keeps two notebooks, one with a list of his medications – 12 in all, plus insulin – the other a record of his medical procedures and tests.

Hughey said his doctors have advised him that his only hope for some sort of recovery is a transplant. The varices, as well as hepatic encephalopathy (toxin buildup in the brain), are life-threatening, he said.

However, Hughey does not qualify to receive a liver from a deceased donor because his Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score is 17, which is below the threshold to be added to the list of some 287 Michigan patients currently awaiting liver transplants.

So, for more than a year, the Hugheys have been trying to find someone willing to donate less than half of their healthy liver. The donor’s remaining liver will regrow and return to its pre-surgery condition within a couple of months.

So far, all three of the Hugheys’ children, as well as Hughey’s brother, have been ruled out for various reasons. Recently, a friend of the family also underwent testing, but also was ruled out.

“He’s kind of giving up hope,” said Shirley.

Hughey wants more time to spend with his family, which includes son Richard, daughters Jennifer Hughey and Laura Strand, grandsons Steven, Cameron and Gavin Smith, and granddaughter Marisa Hughey.

He wants to take his grandchildren camping again. He wants to watch 6-year-old Marisa – his “little princess” – chase her dreams. And see Cameron – a standout on Swartz Creek’s cross country and track teams – compete at the college level. Hughey wants to be there to celebrate the accomplishments of all of his children and grandchildren, as long as possible.

Anyone interested in more information about being a living donor may call Shirley Hughey at 810-407-3624 or visit www.henryford.com/services/transplant/ liver/living-donor/can-youbecome a-donor. There also is a gofundme set up to help offset medical costs at www.gofundme.com/f/robert-darrell-hughey.