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In pursuit of his lifelong quest to understand the nature of reality, Dylan began his studies in physics and math at Lewis and Clark College. He played football while on an academic scholarship. Following 9-11, he became unsure of his next steps and set off hitchhiking with a German surfer-turned-best-friend - traveling south down the Baja Peninsula until they set up on a perfect surfing beach north of Cabo San Lucas. What was discussed to be a week surfing trip turned into a five-month adventure. It was on that beach in Mexico that Dylan decided he would devote his life to the healing arts.
His future career and the means to achieve it - pursuing dual doctorate degrees in Naturopathic and Classical Chinese Medicine at NUMN - were laid out clearly before him. As he took the necessary preparatory steps to qualify, Dylan randomly came across a book on the Japanese martial art Aikido. Dylan was immediately hooked. He moved to Japan and through a series of serendipitous encounters became a live-in, full-time aikido student, sleeping on dojo mats at his teacher's house. Originally, he thought he would delay applying to the naturopathic university NUMN a year or two, but it turned out to be an almost five-year sabbatical that eventually qualified him to instruct under the lineage of his teacher.
Dylan returned home to begin his medical studies in 2012 and open his own Aikido dojo. He was gratified to be applying himself to a career path that was aligned with his desire to make a lasting impact in the lives of future patients. For five years, Dylan was highly active in his studies, in student government and as student representative to the board of directors. In the winter of 2017, his fifth of the six-year program, his father was diagnosed with end-stage lung cancer. NUNM worked with him to add a year to his program so that he could assist his father. That spring his first symptoms began. Initially it was shoulder stiffness, then gradually his right hand weakened until he couldn't use his dominate hand for anything. Dylan entered into the marathon phase of adaptations to work with what he had.
Dylan was officially diagnosed with ALS in April of 2018. He continued at NUNM with wonderful support and accommodations for his rapidly changing body. The next fall quarter he was in a wheelchair and eventually came to school in medical transports to avoid transfers. He was two quarters from graduation. His breath capacity became so low that his voice was barely audible making clinic unfeasible. Withdrawing from NUNM was one of the hardest decisions of his life. A few months later one of his professors petitioned the board of directors on his behalf and they voted to award Dylan honorary doctorate degrees for Naturopathic and Chinese medicine in June 2019. He was overwhelmed with gratitude for this unprecedented honor. He gave a speech at commencement through his communication device and was able to “walk” with his classmates.
Dylan has always believed that as one door closes, two open. Immobile now, he has his eyes and his eye-controlled tablet where he can write his unique experiences through the rare disease process of ALS. He is an explorer of the human spirit. It is a different kind of adventure, but he maintains the same openness and appreciation for the invisible guiding hand through his journey. Just as he wouldn’t want to deny himself the previous experiences of his life, he doesn't condemn this new adventure with ALS.
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