When Everything Changed

Video posted May 1, 2014 in News by Kaley Ebling

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When Phil Sundin first started noticing that something was wrong in the beginning of the spring semester, he started researching his symptoms to figure out what could be the cause.  The answers he was finding online were not what he had hoped.  Many of the websites were pointing to one diagnosis, diabetes.  Sundin's mom is a registered nurse who has dealt with patients who have been diagnosed with diabetes before, so she knew what the outcome would be.  

Once Sundin finally heard the doctor diagnose him with diabetes, his life changed drastically.  On a daily basis, Sundin must check his blood sugar levels four times each day.  When he eats anything, he must check his levels to make sure his blood sugar is at a reasonable level.  He was always an active person, always going to the gym to lift or swim, but now he must workout even harder to keep his levels down throughout the day.  Sundin said the hardest part of being a diabetic is that everything you ingest, including drinks, will affect your levels.  


When he goes out to the bar with his roommates, he can't drink Cafe teas or Monkey Boys.  If he would drink those sugary drinks, his blood sugar would be dangerously low in the morning, which harms his body more than it would an average college student. 

Sundin says he is dealing with his diagnosis the best he can.  He has signed up for a clinical trial in St. Louis, MO to test a drug that will allow him to not test himself as much during the day.  He has been traveling to Missouri every two weeks to participate in the study.  Sundin said the drug may not work, but if it does it will make living with diabetes less of a strain on his life.

He is determined to do all he can to live a happy and healthy life.