Anyone who knew Damien Lujan would have said he was careful with money.
The 36-year-old California father always kept a close eye on the family finances, making sure his four children had everything they needed before indulging in anything unnecessary.
So when he went shopping for his children’s winter clothes in 2024 and suddenly blew $900 on outfits for himself, his wife Yolanda knew something wasn’t right.
Then came the Candy Crush obsession.
The hugely popular puzzle game is free to download, but encourages players to make in-app purchases that help them progress – and there have been numerous reports over the years of players spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on it.
And Damien, who had previously shown little interest in such things, suddenly became glued to his phone – and, shockingly, racked up more than $1,000 in spending on Candy Crush in a single month.
But more disturbing was the change in his personality.
The usually calm and level-headed father began flying into rages over the smallest things, at one point berating his children because he couldn’t find the television remote.
Damien Lujan (pictured with his wife Yolanda) never spent money on himself. But sudden impulse spending on clothes and Candy Crush was one of the first signs of a deadly brain condition
‘I had to start taking the kids everywhere with me so they weren’t home alone with him,’ Yolanda said. ‘His behavior was so out of character.’
At first, there was no obvious reason for the transformation, but then Yolanda noticed a slight tremor in Damien’s hand. He had also begun dragging his right foot when he walked.
She persuaded him to see a neurologist and, after a battery of brain scans and genetic tests in 2025, he received a devastating explanation for everything that had happened.
Damien had Huntington’s Disease-Like 2, or HDL2 – a rare inherited brain disorder that progressively destroys nerve cells in the brain.
It is closely linked to Huntington’s disease itself, a devastating genetic condition that gradually robs patients of their ability to control their movements, think clearly and, eventually, carry out everyday tasks independently.
The damage is particularly severe in areas of the brain involved in movement, memory, mood and decision-making.
As the disease progresses, patients can develop involuntary jerking movements, muscle stiffness and problems walking, speaking and swallowing. There is currently no cure and symptoms typically worsen over many years.
Huntington’s is caused by a faulty gene that can be passed from parent to child – and anyone with an affected parent has a 50 percent chance of inheriting it.
Around 41,000 Americans are living with Huntington’s disease, while another 200,000 are at risk of inheriting it, according to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America.
Studies suggest the number of people living with the condition may have risen over recent decades – although researchers believe this may largely reflect better genetic testing and diagnosis, as well as patients living longer with the disease.
HDL2 is far rarer. It produces symptoms so similar to Huntington’s that doctors cannot reliably distinguish between the two on symptoms alone, but it is caused by a different genetic mutation and has predominantly been identified in people with African ancestry. That also means patients with Huntington’s-like symptoms can test negative for the better-known condition.
And, like Huntington’s, HDL2 is inherited – meaning each of Damien and Yolanda’s four children has a 50 percent chance of having it.
‘My biggest fear is that our children test positive and there is no treatment or cure,’ Yolanda said.
The disease can also damage frontal regions of the brain involved in judgment, inhibition and impulse control, meaning changes in personality and behavior can emerge alongside – or even before – the more recognizable problems with movement.
For Damien, that may explain the reckless spending and sudden flashes of anger that initially left his family bewildered.
In 2018, Damien was medically discharged from the military after being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Soon after, Yolanda said, his personality began to change
Yolanda said Damien, who was normally calm and level-headed, would snap at his four children and blame them for minor inconveniences such as misplacing the remote
‘That wasn’t Damien – that was the disease,’ Yolanda said.
Experts say Damien’s experience highlights an often overlooked feature of Huntington’s and related disorders – personality, psychiatric and cognitive changes can appear years before the movement problems more commonly associated with the disease.
Research involving more than 5,000 Huntington’s patients found more than four in ten experienced at least one psychiatric or cognitive symptom before developing problems with movement.
These can include irritability, depression, impulsive behavior and difficulties with judgment and concentration – problems that can wreak havoc on relationships and careers long before families realize a neurological disease may be responsible.
Experts have even identified losing the ability to hold down a job as one of the early ways Huntington’s can begin to disrupt a patient’s life.
Looking back, Yolanda believes the first signs that something was wrong may have appeared years earlier.
In 2018, Damien was medically discharged from the military after being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – a mental health condition that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event.
Soon afterwards, Yolanda said, his personality began to change.
At times he became so difficult to live with that Yolanda considered ending their marriage – never imagining there might be a disease contributing to his behavior.
‘At one point, before his diagnosis, we were really close to separating because he wasn’t putting the family first,’ she said.
‘It became difficult for him to hold a job and he always had excuses of why he had to quit. I had no idea what was really going on.’
Even getting an answer proved difficult. Damien initially tested negative for Huntington’s disease three times before doctors eventually discovered he had the far rarer HDL2.
By then, Yolanda said, his cognitive decline was so severe that when doctors broke the news over the phone, he struggled to understand what they were telling him.
‘The first thing that went through Damien’s mind was that he was dying,’ she said. ‘Mine was the kids. My sweet babies were at risk.’
The couple eventually sat their four children down together and explained that their father’s brain was ‘sick’ – and that it could sometimes make him angry, cause him to move more slowly or make everyday tasks more difficult.
For now, Yolanda has decided not to have the children tested, saying they are still too young to fully understand – or cope with – what a positive result could mean.
Lujan’s children each have a 50 percent chance of getting Huntington’s disease, but Yolanda said she does not plan to get them tested yet while they are still young
Yolanda said she is hoping to raise awareness of Huntington’s disease and wider genetic screening
Yolanda is now sharing her family’s story in the hope that patients in this position are investigated for rarer Huntington’s-like disorders rather than assuming a negative Huntington’s test means they are in the clear.
‘I can’t help but wonder if there are more families like ours that tested negative for Huntington’s and think they are free from the disease,’ she said.
‘I hope that one day there are treatments or a cure.’
Today, Damien can no longer walk down his own street alone because he may not be able to find his way home. He has stopped driving and working, and can no longer safely manage the family’s finances, prepare his own meals or reliably remember to take his medication.
Instead, Yolanda has become her husband’s full-time caregiver – while continuing to raise their four children.
‘I’m caregiver, wife, mom and decision-maker,’ she said. ‘It all falls to me now, and that’s extremely hard.
‘Damien had always been the life of the party, but now his independence has gone.’
Doctors have told the family Damien could live for another ten to 20 years from the onset of his symptoms, meaning his condition is expected to continue deteriorating over many years.
For Yolanda, that has made preserving memories of the husband and father he was before the disease took hold all the more important.
‘Damien was so smart and annoyingly athletic. He was great at everything. Most importantly, he loved being a dad,’ she said.
‘I try to keep those memories alive for my kids.’