Donate to Dustin's Journey Towards a New Liver and Health

Asking anyone for help is out of my comfort zone, so I’m going to tell you a story to explain.

In this story I want you to understand “we” and “us” as the journey is ours, but the illness is Dustin’s. I schedule his appointments, have been to 99% of them and keep track of everything.

In January 2024 Dustin started getting sick. He started throwing up almost every day and just generally not feeling well. By August he had already spent a week in the hospital 3 different times due to what we thought was high blood sugar and his electrolytes being out of balance. These were issues but it was just the beginning.

At the 3rd hospital stay one of the doctors made a remark about cirrhosis of the liver and that he needed to see a GI doctor. So, as I do, I researched until I found a GI PA with the most outstanding reviews I could find. At that point Dusin was throwing up daily, very tired and we wanted to know what was going on.

With severe liver disease there is something called “Hepatic Encephalopathy”. The liver cannot remove toxins from the blood, and they end up accumulating in the brain causing confusion and fogginess, this can be fatal if not treated. Before we knew this Dustin had, had 3 pretty bad episodes. All of which he had gone to work and been driving! He did not hurt himself or anyone else, thank God. He did beat up my car pretty good and yes, I was mad but that was the least of our worries. We needed someone who really knew their field and could give us some answers.

We go to the first GI appointment, the PA asks a million questions, took a bunch of blood, ordered an ultrasound of the liver and some other tests and said she wanted to have a follow up in a couple weeks. At the follow up appointment, she tells us that Dustin has severe cirrhosis of the liver. This seems strange to me because, like you, I only know cirrhosis to be something that alcoholics get. That is not the case! Dustin had only drank heavily for about a year of his life. The main contributor in his case though, is the oxycodone that he had been prescribed for over 10 years! The year of drinking did contribute of course but is not the root cause. The PA told us his cirrhosis is so advanced that she would like to refer him for a liver transplant! This was when we learned why Dustin had episodes of confusion and just really seemed out of it at times. She put him on medicine that helps to keep the toxins from getting to the brain. He has not had anymore episodes since starting this medicine.

3 weeks had gone by when the PA called to check in, and I told her we had not heard from the original hospital she sent the referral to. She sent a new referral to Emory in Atlanta, which is where I wanted him to be approved anyway. They are the number one liver transplant hospital in the country. 2 days later they called to schedule him for “intake” and get the process started.

The following Monday we went to Emory to meet Dr. Ford, the main doctor over Dustin’s case. That is when we learned that Dustin has what is called NASH cirrhosis. “a severe form of liver disease that develops when nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) progresses. It is characterized by inflammation, scarring (fibrosis), and permanent damage to the liver.” He also told us that his cirrhosis is so far advanced that Dustin cannot accept a partial liver from a living donor but will need to go through UNOS and be put on the National Transplant List.

As part of the transplant process, they take what seems like ½ of your blood and do imaging of your body from head to toe. They are trying to find out, #1 how sick you are and #2 if there is anything else going on in your body that would compromise a transplant.

In the transplant world there is a scoring system called the MELD score. It measures how sick you are just based on your blood tests. The scale is 6-40, Dr Ford said you don’t want to be as low as 6 when it comes to needing a transplant (because you will be waiting a while) but 40 is severe and you’re really not feeling well. On that first visit Dr. Ford told us that Dustin’s MELD score is 24. He called this the “sweet spot” if you have to be on the transplant list. He said 24 is pretty sick but not so sick that you are in the hospital and having more advanced issues. This was May 2025.

In mid-June 2025, Dustin had lost around 70 pounds but all of a sudden, his belly started sticking out like a basketball or a pregnant belly. He went back to the GI doctor, and she said he now has ascites, fluid building up in the abdomen. The only way to get rid of it is to “drain” his abdomen by a procedure called a paracentesis. In advanced liver disease the liver stops being able to filter as it should and send fluid out of the body and just lets it go into the abdomen and eventually into the legs and any other tissue that can hold fluid!

Today, October 7, 2025, Dustin will have his 12th paracentesis. At first, they were pulling around 5 liters every 4-6 weeks. He now goes 2 times a week and they are pulling 8-11 liters at each visit! The swelling has become so severe that along with his abdomen it has also moved to his legs and earned him 2 more hospital stays so far.

At this point his liver is in such bad shape it is causing problems with his kidneys. Dustin’s electrolytes and blood work are all out of whack so when they keep him in the hospital, they are giving him a bunch of the vitamins and electrolytes his body is missing.

Dustin is currently in the hospital being treated for AKI, acute kidney injury, and severe fluid overload, the ascites in his abdomen and legs. As of October 7, his MELD score is up to 34. This number fluctuates a little but since it hit 30, it has gradually increased.

Through all this Dustin has worked as much as he can. There are days it’s all he can do to go to work but when he gets home, he crashes. He has absolutely no energy to do anything. There are days he just does not have enough energy to get out of bed. The fatigue he has is overwhelming.

Dustin IS on the UNOS list waiting for a liver transplant. We are hoping and praying that they will call any day to tell us that Dusin has a liver. When he does get his transplant, he will be out of work and unable to drive for a minimum of 3 months! The goal after surgery is for him to be released from the hospital by the 10th day. For the next 42 days, after he is home we will have to go back to Emory to have his blood drawn every other day to monitor EVERYTHING! They will also make adjustments to his anti-rejection medications at these visits as needed. I will be staying in the hospital with Dustin and will not work for the first few days after his surgery to be able to focus on him. Once he is stable, I will start working from the hospital room. My employer is absolutely amazing and has already set me up with the tools I will need to be able to work “on the road” as needed. I already work remote, but they went a step further to help make this possible for us.

Unfortunately, this journey has taken a huge toll on our finances. Honestly, we are maxed out at this point. This is why we are coming to you in our time of crisis and desperate need to ask for anything you can do to help us. Any financial contributions will be used to pay for anything Dustin needs after transplant of course. It will also help pay monthly pay bills and groceries. Dustin’s income is crucial to paying the monthly bills in our home, so him being out of work for a minimum of 3 months could be detrimental for us. We will be forever grateful for any help that you can provide. If you prefer to help in another way, please message me. I know that some would prefer to give gift cards, pay directly to a utility or on another platform. I do have other apps that can be used if you prefer.

The transplant process is not for the faint of heart! This has been one the hardest years of our lives. For Dustin with being so sick and only getting sicker and for me as his caretaker, I’ll always be here for him but it’s a tough job. I do want to thank our family and friends that have prayed for and supported us through the past year. Dustin is the love of my life; it has been extremely hard to watch the man I love be so sick.

God bless all of you. Please pray for Dustin, his transplant surgery, his surgeons, his nurses, his recovery and to getting himself back, literally.