I love health writing because I get to learn about all the ways our wonderful bodies can be wild and weird. Medicine has trouble even describing these conditions, much less offering evidence-based care for them. Sometimes these curiosities happen commonly but no satisfying explanation can be given. Such is the case of broken heart syndrome.
Doctors call it sudden stress-induced cardiomyopathy. It’s also known as the cause of the “widowhood” effect. It commonly presents in older patients after the death of their spouse. That’s how I first came across it. My grandfather’s health deteriorated rapidly after my grandmother passed away. His heart just up and failed.
If you read about broken heart syndrome on patient-facing health information sites, you’ll read that it’s common and curable – the doctors will give you pills and you’ll recover in a few months. In the scientific literature, however, you’ll read that it’s as deadly as a heart attack, the big kind.
I visited my grandfather during the period of three months between my grandmother’s death and his. He was in bed all the time by that point, in the same hospital bed they’d rented for my grandmother. They’d even kept it in the same spot. I wrote about the experience in my novel American Sicko, through the eyes of my main character while she contemplates her own death:
A long time ago, when I was a young mom and too pregnant with Sam to travel, my grandmother died. And then, almost immediately after they buried her, my grandpa started dying too. There is a medical term for it, broken heart syndrome. The pumping fibers in the heart’s chambers just start giving up their tension and flexion. They go stiff and quiet. The heart becomes weak like it’s been suddenly deprived of a crucial nutrient mandatory for survival. It’s a well-documented phenomenon, although no one can quite figure out why it happens or how to stop it. Without Grandma, Grandpa’s body just didn’t know how to be in the world. Grief is a physical process…
When he was still aware enough to say it, Grandpa told us he wanted to go. And his body obeyed. He wasted quickly. Three months after I gave birth to Sam, I visited him in Oklahoma and sat by his bed and watched him cycle through his own visions. Like a toddler, he gestured with his hands in his sleep and moved his feet underneath the blankets. He called out lines from the legal cases he’d argued as a young man. He called for Margaret, my grandmother. Now I realize she was likely on the other side calling him back. He died two days later.
My grandfather is also part of the inspiration for a character in my next book – a man with a professional obsession with justice who can’t always behave accordingly in his personal life. I’ve enjoyed watching my characters emerge as amalgamations of things I’ve seen and people I’ve known. It's one of my favorite parts of this new adventure writing fiction.
Recipe of the Month
Okay, so hear me out, I got a new oven and discovered it has an air fryer setting. My expectations were high. These things come with a lot of hype! I was highly skeptical it could do anything well except reheat fried food (baby, it can). But did you also know it’s a damn fine meat roaster? That’s the magic featured here. Enjoy!
Air Fryer Roasted Pork Tenderloin
1 pork tenderloin
Salt and pepper
Your fav spice rub (optional)
Preheat the airfryer to 400 F. Dry tenderloin with paper towels. Season it. Roast for approx 20 minutes until it reaches 145 F internal temp.
Pro Tip: I roasted two and used one for cubanos later in the week.