Determination in tribulation
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 20, 2017 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Wayne Community College student Dylan Smith poses for a photo in the library Thursday. Health issues last year interrupted Smith's nursing degree, but he still managed to earn a two-year associate's degree in May and returned to classes this fall to complete the nursing program.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
A year ago, Dylan Smith was on track for his nursing degree at Wayne Community College and making plans for a July wedding.
But that all changed during a routine physical.
"Certain levels were elevated. They started doing a bunch of different tests and found out I had two autoimmune diseases," he said. "One that was giving me some problems was ulcerative colitis."
Up until then, he'd been healthy, he said.
An autoimmune disease can be exacerbated by stress, though, and the nursing program "ramped it up to be times 100," he said.
He made it through the first semester, in large part because of the encouragement he received.
"The instructors are awesome because, like the first semester I almost quit because I was getting symptoms," he said. "But one of my instructors emailed me and told me I could do this, that it would get better."
He wound up pulling out of the program to deal with the health issues -- which included being admitted to the hospital three times and undergoing two surgeries at UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill.
"The first (surgery) removed my entire large intestine and I had an ostomy bag," he said. "The second removed the ostomy bag."
Both were successful, he says now, but required some adjustments in the aftermath. He continues to get checkups every three months and is on medication.
"Right now I feel great," he said. "If the symptoms flare up it isn't the best but I feel better than I have in two years."
Despite the interruption in his education, Smith did not stop pursuing his studies. He found in the interim he could manage a less demanding schedule, so used the down time to complete his two-year associate's degree, graduating this past May.
"I was out last year but I had done so many prerequisites and stuff, I was able to complete (that degree)," he said. "The nursing program only starts in the fall so I had to withdraw and then I got back in the fall, a year later."
He just lacks this semester and the spring semester to complete the two-year program, and is slated to graduate with his associate's degree in nursing in May.
Smith set his sights on the medical profession early on, he says, viewing it as a way to help others.
"I have always wanted to do this, since middle school," he said. "I enjoyed health class and stuff.
"I'm not like the guy who likes to build stuff."
He actually had an interest in medical missions, stemming from two trips to Africa he went on in high school.
"We went to an orphanage and a lot of their parents were either dead or they would just tie them to a tree and leave them there," Smith said.
It was just a "different world," he said, especially in the health care arena.
His health situation may now prevent him from doing overseas missions, he said, but he can still find other outlets to use his talents.
The soft-spoken student admits he may have had the demeanor and personality for the role, even before his own medical condition surfaced.
"I have always tried to be compassionate but I guess this has helped that," he said. "It's enhanced it."
Nurses, he explained, get to take care of others on a daily basis, oftentimes when people are "at their worst."
"I have always wanted to do this, since middle school," he said. "But now even more since I have been there. I just want to be there more than ever, to bring hope when it seems hopeless, because nurses can really make or break it when you're in a hospital stay. "
He credits his family with supporting him throughout his hospitalizations and setbacks.
Mom Robyn Smith of Goldsboro was "always there" as were his dad, Ben Smith and stepmom, Beth, of Princeton.
And fiancée, Kristian Parks -- who graduated with him in May and is now pursuing a bachelor's degree from UNC-Greensboro -- deserves special praise.
"She never left me. We were supposed to get married last July 22 but had to postpone," he said, adding that the wedding is planned for next July 7.
Taking on the role of husband means he'll have to get a job, he says. Beyond that, he would like to earn his bachelor's degree in nursing and possibly go into the very field in which he's been a patient.
"At Chapel Hill, they had two floors specifically for G.I.'s (gastrointestinal)," he said. "They were all great nurses. They didn't make you feel embarrassed.
"Before this I didn't want anything to do with G.I. I thought it was gross." And as stringent as the second year in the nursing program is, he maintains it is still the right place for him.
"I have had a lot of procedures done that we see now in clinical, so it helps to relate," he said. "I enjoy clinical.
"It's nerve-wracking but I enjoy it because it's where the bread meets the butter."