Podcast 82: Philip Stevanovic - CF-Related Diabetes (CFRD)

Philip Stevanovic is 36 years old with cystic fibrosis and diabetes. He lives in New York, is married with twin boys, works full-time as a construction manager, and received a double lung transplant in August 2007 at New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.

• Philip was diagnosed at age two at the University of Minnesota.
• “Growing up with CF was pretty uneventful, except that I slept in a mist tent. I played soccer, tennis, football and lived in Africa, the Middle East and Yugoslavia,” Phil says.
• Philip was diagnosed with CFRD in 2006 via glucose tolerance test.  “I kept getting repeat infections because I had high blood sugar, and bacteria feeds on sugar."
• “I treat my CFRD with insulin shots before I eat, and that controls the sugar at meals. Blood sugars are controlled by food, medication and exercise."
• “Since I started insulin treatment for my CFRD, I have gained weight, which is something I could never do with CF,” Phil says.
• Philip sees an endocrinologist for his CFRD.
• “My role models are my mother and father – they are responsible for making me the person I am today, and I thank them for everything.”
• Philip’s recommendation to others with CFRD: “Enjoy life, be happy, stay focused and get an endocrinologist familiar with CF.”

This “.” Podcast/Vodcast series is the 4th in a series of 12 made possible through an unrestricted educational grant from Genentech to the Boomer Esiason Foundation.