Can this be attributed to long term diabetes?

Image via WikipediaEvery time I have any complaint regarding my body, i.e. sore wrists, nausea, etc., I'm always told 

"That's from the diabetes"

It kind of reminds me of when I would be cranky or weepy during my childhood and my mother would say, 

"Go leave me a test"  That was the equivalent of taking a blood glucose in THESE days. 

I would say, "Can't I just cry, or feel cranky MYSELF?"

It was always the diabetes thing.

Now, after 65 years of 'taking a test' when I'm not feeling right, I wonder if my heart has experienced 'a diabetic thing'

For the past 11 years I've had episodes of shortness of breath and in those 11 years had a stent placed in the left decending artery, a few catherizations, another stent placed next to the original one and then finally a CAT scan revealed calcification of the pericardium.  

The pericardium is supposed to be as thin and flexible as saran wrap.  It is a sac that protects the heart and stops it from flopping around.  It was decided that my pericardium needed to be released, or peeled so it would allow the heart to beat and fill its chambers properly and thus allow oxygenated blood to flow through the body.

This was done successfully  at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida in June 2010.    The operating physician stated the pericardium was so calcified that rather then being a thin layer of protective covering, it was more like a burlap bag!  He was able to peel away much of the anterior (front) of this sac to allow the heart to relax.  He also stated as he peeled it away, the four chambers relaxed and filled with blood as they should.  

My recovery was hard work as far as having to walk, exercixe and take medications; some of which did not agree with me and now at 6 months after, things are going quite well.  I am able to breath normally again and even exercise with almost normal stamina.  This includes ballroom dancing which is my passion.]

My question.  Could THIS    be a diabetic thing?  We know heart problems because of high blood sugar levels and thick blood coursing through the system cause this.  The calcification?  I wonder.  It took such a long time (11 years) to discover that a pericardiotomy was the answer for the problems.  Unfortunately, calcification of the pericardium is almost impossible to diagnose because the physician reading the scans has to see that.  It usually shows up as 'suspicio0us for'.  


I'd love to interview diabetics with breathing problems and see if their symptoms are closer to mine than the ordinary,  problems of plugged coronary arteries.  I never had that.