Teri, I would not be surprised that the high BP was the result of the “broken heart syndrome” which apparently is not that uncommon in women over 40 (both my mom and I experienced it, for different reasons - but the common denominator was sudden stress).
It could be debbie Reynolds would have died the day she did anyway, but my take on it is that grief can cause someone to die sooner than they would. It may be elevated bloodpressure caused by grieving, but I also believe the mind has a very strong control over the body, and if a person grieves so much they ‘give up’, and the person from there will die soon after. I know there have been attempts at studies with this, that from what little i know are inconclusive, but the power the mind and emotions have with the body are amazing.
Yes, my FIL died the evening after we visited him and returned to HI, once he knew we had safely returned from Europe. My SisIL died as our plane touched down after we and all the relatives she loved had visited with her over the weekend. I definitely agree that people CAN affect their time of death within a window and studies have shown that “broken hearts” and grief can add significant stress to the sufferer which can lead to death. My cousin’s son studied “the broken heart syndrome” while in medical school.
I just finished reading (listening to, actually) Carrie’s book Wishful Drinking. She was one very funny lady.
She definitely had a surreal life and tried her best to make sense of it and make meaning out of it.
I read one or more of Carrie’s novels years ago. She was a very funny writer. I mourn the loss of Princess Leia and that marvelous wit.
I just bought Carrie’s book The Princess Diaries. I remember reading some of her fiction years ago, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the last book.
If it is still available, HBO had at least one of her one woman stage shows touching on her life, they are both funny as hell and also quite poignent. One of the funniest ones I remember was a kind of genealogy of the Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher marriages on a white board, and then pointing out kids from both branches who somehow ended up and wanted to get married, and her showing the path of both branches, it was pretty sardonic, but then she heartfeltedly wished them a long and happy life together and break the chain…