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He thought he had severe acid reflux. Doctors found a much different problem.
For years, Rich Bugay struggled with constant discomfort and difficulty breathing. To deal with the sensation of a burning mouth, the father of three ate cough drops nearly nonstop. Just picking up his legs to walk was difficult, and intense fatigue was a constant struggle, leaving him exhausted.
Initial visits to doctors didn’t provide many answers. Doctors thought his symptoms were linked to his gastrointestinal system, so he underwent a colonoscopy, which he said “ruled a lot of stuff out,” but didn’t provide any new answers. Some doctors thought he might have gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, a chronic form of acid reflux. Bugay tried numerous treatments for the condition. Nothing made his symptoms any better.
Frustrated with his inability to get answers, Bugay asked a friend to get him an appointment at the Mayo Clinic. He and his wife traveled from Escanaba, Michigan, for an appointment with gastrointestinal specialist Dr. Houssam Halawi, intending to stay just a few hours. Halawi embarked on a typical GI workup — but took the extra step of listening to Bugay’s heart after suspecting that his symptoms pointed to a larger issue.
Mayo Clinic
“The symptoms seemed more systemic, more diffuse than tend to be blamed on just an acid problem,” Halawi said.
Halawi’s exam picked up what he called a “very suspicious” heart murmur. Bugay and his wife decided to stay overnight so he could have an echocardiogram the next morning. The cardiac exam unveiled a deadly surprise: A seven-centimeter aortic aneurysm that could fatally rupture at any moment.
“The bombshell kind of blew up at that point,” Bugay said.
What is an aortic aneurysm?
An aortic aneurysm, also known as an enlarged aorta, is a bulge in the main artery of the body. They grow slowly and often do not cause problems, according to the American Heart Association, but a burst or rupture is fatal in most cases.
The aneurysm was 6.6 centimeters, according to cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Gabor Bagameri. Typically, aneurysms of 5 centimeters or more are surgically treated.
Mayo Clinic
The echocardiogram also found that Bugay had a congenital heart disease called bicuspid aortic valve syndrome, when a person has just two flaps of tissue ensuring that blood flows correctly instead of the typical three. The condition can reduce blood flow to the heart or other complications. Bugay was experiencing a symptom called aortic valve regurgitation, where blood was flowing backward into his body.
The congenital disease was likely causing many of his symptoms, including fatigue, explained cardiologist Dr. Charles Jain, who read Buday’s echocardiogram and was involved in his treatment. Some of the symptoms, like burning mouth, likely weren’t caused by the condition, and aortic aneurysms are typically asymptomatic until they rupture.
“I would have been a ticking time bomb,” Bugay said.
A “new lease on life”
Once the aortic aneurysm was discovered, Bugay was immediately scheduled for open-heart surgery to remove the aneurysm and repair his heart valve.
The complex operation took several hours, Bagameri said. The aneurysm was removed, and a mechanical aortic valve was implanted. Bugay had a “relatively smooth” recovery, Jain said, and was discharged from the Mayo Clinic just a few days after the surgery.
Now, a year later, Bugay said that he has a “new lease on life” and feels “a hundred times better” than he did before. His six- and twelve-month check-ups at Mayo Clinic have gone well, he said, and he’s made “small lifestyle changes” as well. Every day, he said, he’s grateful for the extra tests that caught the deadly condition.
“If they had just run a few tests and sent me on my way, I might not be here,” Bugay said.
TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.
McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.
She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”
“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.
Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.
“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”
Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?
McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.
Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.
The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.
It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.
Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.
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Sean “Diddy” Combs at same Brooklyn detention center that held R. Kelly, Sam Bankman-Fried, other high-profile inmates
A second judge refused to grant bail to Sean “Diddy” Combs on Wednesday and he could remain in federal custody at a Brooklyn detention center until his trial for sex trafficking charges. Combs joins other high-profile inmates, such as singer R. Kelly, fallen cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, rapper Ja Rule —even Al Sharpton served a brief stint— who were held at the same federal detention center.
Notorious for its horrible conditions —inmates won a $10 million class action settlement after enduring frigid conditions during an 8-day blackout in 2019— the waterfront industrial complex, MDC Brooklyn, houses 1,200 inmates.
JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images
Violence and corruption have long plagued the facility; U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown of the Eastern District of New York wrote the detention center had “dangerous, barbaric conditions” in a recent sentencing opinion. Two inmates were stabbed to death in recent months and several correction officers have been convicted for smuggling contraband and accepting bribes.
Combs joins a list of high-profile personalities that have landed at the MDC Brooklyn, partly because the city’s other federal detention center, MDC New York, closed in 2021, also due to horrible conditions. The disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in his cell there in 2019. “Numerous and serious” instances of misconduct among corrections staff gave Epstein the opportunity to kill himself, a subsequent federal watchdog investigation found.
Kelly sued the federal detention center in 2022 for wrongly putting him on suicide watch after his sentencing. Kelly sought $100 million because he said the detention center knew he wasn’t suicidal after he was convicted in 2021 for racketeering and violating the Mann Act, which bars transporting people across state lines for prostitution.
Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Former crypto billionaire Bankman-Fried survived on bread, water and sometimes peanut butter when he was in the MDC Brooklyn, his attorney said, because the detention center continued to serve him a “flesh diet” despite requests for vegan dishes.
Ja Rule stayed at the MDC Brooklyn for a brief time before being released after serving most of his two-year sentence for illegal gun possession. Most of his prison time was spent in a state prison in New York.
Sharpton served a 90-day sentence in 2001 and went on a hunger strike for protesting the U.S. Navy bombing of the island of Vieques, in Puerto Rico.
Combs was taken into custody on Monday and according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday he was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution.
His attorney Marc Agnifilo told CBS News, “It’s impossible to prepare for a trial from where he is,” after a first federal judge denied Combs bail on Tuesday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky agreed with prosecutors who argued the hip-hop mogul, who is accused of using his business empire as a criminal enterprise to conceal his alleged abuse of women, is a flight risk and poses an ongoing threat to the safety of the community.
Agnifilo said the part of the detention center where Combs is being held is “a very difficult place to be.”
contributed to this report.
