Update-I had a heart cath done on 5-30-12, but ended up having triple bypass surgery instead on 6-1-12. My cardiologist said my having diabetes for 34 years was the #1 cause of the 90% blockages. Here I am over 3 months later and now have many side effects. Nerve and muscle pain being the worst. I am currently in Cardiac Rehab 3x a week but it is not helping with the healing in my opinion. Has anyone else had this and how are you coping? I am having a very difficult time. My daily way of life has been turned upside down.
Your situation is very similar to mine, just separated by ten years. I had multiple bypasses done in May 2002 after 33 years of type 1 diabetes. It was traumatic to say the least. My experience was that it took me about a year before I felt 90 percent recovered, and another year before I felt fully back to normal. The good news is though, that I've had ten years and counting of feeling pretty good. (In fact, I just finished my daily 15 mile bike ride a couple of hours ago!) I would expect that you'll have equally good results, but you do have to be patient and do the rehab. BTW, I dealt with some depression right after the surgery. I understand that's not uncommon for heart surgery patients. In my case, it lifted on its own after about six months, but should you experience it, it is hopefully temporary, and it is usually treatable. Type 1s are prone to depression anyway, and something like this sure doesn't help. Sorry you had to go through it. Keep your chin up. Things will get better!
Sorry to hear your troubles. I went in for what appeared to be a heart blockage around my 35th year as a type 1. Turned out that my heart is built backwards, and I'm clean as a whistle. I've read a lot of stuff lately talking quite differently about heart problems, in that there are just too many factors that can cause problems, some in our control but many not in our control. I'm wonder now if it's just like the diabetes for most and more luck that anything. I do know that after 40+ years though, I do have a lot of other problems like nerve damage and frozen shoulders etc etc. Add to that I have GERD, which feels and acts just like heart problems and it gives me fits at times wondering if I'm having another GERD attack or if it's my heart this time. Sometimes the mental pain is worse than the physical. But, I pull through and keep going.
I can tell you that with my shoulder issues, it was very much hard work to get back to normal. Months of work and pain. I would think that heart issues would be similar. Working at it for a long time, but nothing seems changed. Then a year down the road you realize that you did improve and things are better. So keep at it, and do everything they suggest and more if you can. It does pay off.
I'm trying-really I am. But it seems that a new 'complication' from the surgery pops up every few days. My family thinks I had a stroke during the surgery. I have numbness in my left leg and left arm that wasn't there before. My right arm has constant muscle pain. I confuse my words and can barely walk some days. I have told my dr's but I keep getting told that rehab will help. It's been 1 1/2 months of that and there is no improvement. I can no longer work because of same issues. As I said, it's very frustrating. The one thing I am lucky to have is my familial support system and my husband and I have actually gotten closer due to all of this too. Thanks for your input and keep up the good fight!