Dorsa  

Dorsa--The Early Years:

His father was a involved with the Royal Navy and assigned as a commincations officer on board the HMS Britannia and his mother was a Registered Nurse or RN who met onboard a train while on leave shortly after WW2. They began their relationship by writing weekly to each other. Love began from there. Shortly after their marriage, Dorsa's father was re-assigned to Singapore where his oldest Brother was born. From there, the family relocated back to the U.K. where two other brother's were born before him. On April 19, 1977, Dorsa was born.

He was born across the pond in England, in a small place called Royal Lemmington Spa. The actual hospital which holds his birth records was destroyed in a fire in the late '80s so there is no true record of his birth (true story). He lost the photocopy of birth record and so his existence has never truely been verified. 6 month's after birth, the family relocated to Oakville, Ontario Canada. His father, now retired from the Navy began work at IBM.

Dorsa, gaining the beauty of his mother landed a quick television role for Johnson & Johnson baby products and has appeared in television ads. Other product's were also endorsed however the knowledge of which has been lost to time. Dorsa's family moved across Canada, from Oakville to Calgary, Alberta. They lived on property which is now converted over to the Olympic park hill. Dorsa also spent some time on television again as one of the candle holders for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. His young face, even to this day, can still be seen every so often on CBC during promotions.

From there, Dorsa's family moved again to a Saltspring Island, located a short distance from Vancouver in British Columbia. Dorsa continued on through his learning and began high school.

Shortly before his 10 grade, Dorsa's family moved again back to Oakville, Ontario. He completed his schooling at Oakville Trafalgar High School in 1996 obtaining a scholarship to attend Sheridan College's Technical Theatre Arts program.

Dorsa--The Near Death Experience:

"This was written up in my LiveJournal Blog. I'll edit it, so it's ongoing, but figured it's worth a good read."

Back in 1997, I came home from Sheridan College. I was taking Theatre Arts, Technical Production and I was in my first year. I wasn't feeling too hot that day, I told my mom that I was going to have a hot bath and read. She knew I wasn't doing so well, so she ordered me to bed right after. Well, I had my hour-long bath and I went to bed and started to watch TV. After a few minutes, my hands began to shake and then stiffen. I thought nothing of it, thinking my bath was fairly hot and I was adjusting to normal room temperature. Slowly, my whole body began to shake, like I was having convulsions. I went as stiff as a board and couldn't move any part of my body. I shouted for my mom, and she called 911. A fire truck arrived and they started to give me oxygen. Soon afterward, I started to feel my body relax. The ambulance took me away to Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. In the emergency ward, the doctors stated that they had no idea was happened, and if I have any change in my condition to come back.

Well, a few days go by and I start to get constant headaches. There was also a lump growing on the right side of my forehead about 5 inches above my eyebrow. I went to see my family doctor and he stated that "his red light's were going off" and he didn't like the looks of whatever it was. He mentioned a possible blood clot and wanted to prove it before he took a needle to the lump and withdrew the blood. I was sent down to have an ultrasound of my forehead. After a few days, I was called back to my doctor and he said that it was a "liquid" and to take some blood thinning medication, the lump would recede and go away.

Okay, so that said, I take these pills. The pain of the headache's go away and the lump starts to fade. Life appears to be returning too normal. Yeah right.... I wake up one morning, and immediately head downstairs to grab some chow and rush to class, (I had already missed about 2 weeks within a month). My mom start's to freak. The entire right side of my face had dropped. The muscles all along the right side had been so tense from the lump that they shut down and relaxed. I looked like I had a stroke in the middle of the night. My skin was loose to the touch and kind of sickening. Again, we rush to the hospital. Doctors this time state that they want to give me a cat-scan however the waiting list for non-emergencies is 2 months.

All I could do was wait. I was removed from school because I couldn't complete my homework and wasn't attending class. The teachers knew I wasn't well, and they felt bad. They said that I could come back when I feeling better. The headaches had returned, along with the lump. I became bed ridden and was losing control of my body. Some days I would be fine, others I would have no control of my legs or arms or other parts of my body. The pain of my headaches was increasing and all I wanted was darkness and no noise. I was like that for a month, putting on a brave face for my folks who were freaked out. So was I, the pain was intense and I wished for it to stop. I even welcomed Death, to put me out of my misery. I just didn't care for anything now. My body was killing me off, and there was nothing I could do. I had something killing me from the inside. After a while, I just shut down, I would try and sleep for days. Even in my dreams, I could feel the pain.

Sometime around Christmas, my family wanted to have a Christmas lunch. At this point it was around a Month and a half of consist hospital visits and various diagnoses still with no answers. Meanwhile, I had gone as pale as a ghost and had dropped to 90 lbs. I looked like those kids you see on TV in Ethiopia. We went to a local pub called "The Queen's Head". I was trying to strong, but my will had faded. All I wanted was the pain to stop, even if I had to kill myself. I even had thoughts of taking my life, but I could never go through with it. During the feast, I ordered a plate of fries and only ate 2. My parents had had enough of doctors telling them to wait and see. Their son was dying.

We went to the hospital again. This time the fire alarm was going off. I was at the point where I didn't give a fuck. I had turned into the Exorcist child and was screaming profanity at my parents and medical staff. The fucking alarm was piercing my ears and I wanted it to stop. Looking back, I'm glad it didn't.

Here's when things begin to change for me....

While, I was there, the emergency staff called a visiting neurologist. She was some student doing her residence there. She was with me for all of 5 minutes and said that she knows someone who might help. I was screaming like a mad man at this point. I had lost all control and decide to let the pain take over me. She returned, saying that the doctor she mentioned was in Hamilton and would be able to help me. Emergency crew said they could ambulance me to the hospital. My brother said he would faster. From here...things get hazy. I remember sitting in the passenger seat of my brother's Jag, blasting downthe highway at about 190 kph.

We arrived at Hamilton General, where they said I was to have an emergency cat-scan, at this point it was now around 5 pm. I waited.... I think I even broke down at this point. It must have been hard for my Mom. She was beside me all the time, and I recall telling her that I was in so much pain that I wanted to die. At around 9 pm, I went into have my cat-scan. My brain was scanned twice, because what they found was, well, incredible.

I was returned to the emergency ward and awaited the neurosurgeon to speak to me. There was this man speaking to my parents for a length of time, and I saw my mom break down. He came over to me, and started asking questions while probing around my skull. His name was Dr. Reddie. He asked my parents if we could be alone. He sat down beside me and started to talk. This is one conversation I don't think I'll ever forget.

"Matt, you have around a day to live. There is a fluid that has eaten through you're skull and is now surrounding you're brain. The headaches that you're getting are because the fluid is acidic, and is destroying the electrical impulses that allow you to think, feel, and remember things. There is also enough fluid inside that it's shifting you're brain to rub the left side of skull, almost like a constant concussion. I want to give you an emergency operation right now, but you're too weak. You wouldn't survive. What I want to do is hook you up to an IV overnight with some strong medication and have the operation first thing in the morning. What were going to do is slice away a section of you're skin, drill a small hole in you're skull and remove the fluid. Now, we don't know what the fluid is, or how it got there, so I don't know what will happen when we remove it. What I'm saying is you may die even if we do a successful procedure. Do you understand?"

My reply was just a shocked look on my face, which I think he understood. He asked me to sign some forms stating that in the event that I should die, my family will not sue the hospital and some form stating that in the event that I should die, I give the hospital the right to do whatever it takes to bring me back to life. I remember that all I did was put an X where my signature was. My parents were sent home, they were told that when the time of my operation comes, they would be contacted. I was hooked up to an IV for the rest of the night and sent to a room.

If you want fear, try spending a night in a hospital room "trying" to sleep but having thoughts going through you're head that it is possible that you will die tomorrow. I didn't sleep that night. With all my thoughts of suicide earlier on, now came the sudden fear of my mortality, the fear that I will die.

The next morning, I was sent to pre-op and had a nurse explain everything to me. What was going to happen and what I should expect. I think I was in shock because I showed no fear of what was to come. My parents arrived and we exchanged small talk both sensing each other’s concern, both hoping we would see each other again. Dr. Reddie arrived and took my parents aside. I don't know what he said to them. He came over to me and asked if I was ready. I nodded and a nurse wheeled me off to the O.R. I was calm and cool until I reached the archway of the O.R. A few nurses transferred me to another bed and began to strap me down. They pulled my left arm out to a 45-degree angle and strapped it down to the table. Suddenly realizing that this might be it, I began to freak and told then that they should knock me out now, before I cause harm to anyone. They setlled me as the neurosurgon was stuck in traffic and by putting me under to early would be a bad thing. Anyways, he should up and they put the mask on .... and the world went black.

From here, I account what my mom told me. When Dr. Reddie pulled my parents aside, he gave them the speech about how it might not be a successful operation. That my odds were 50-50 at best. He stated that the operation would take around 3 hours and that he would come and talk to them when he was done. My parents waited in the Operating Room Lobby. After One and a half hours, Dr. Reddie came out. My mom began to freak. The operation was supposed to be 3 hours not one and a half and she thought I was dead. Dr. Reddie sat them down and told them that I was fine but a complication came up. Are area of my skull where the "virus" hit me was infected. They had to remove a "fair" section of my skull because it would have been no longer able to protect me if I was ever hit there again. They could go and see me in the Post-Op.

I awoke about 5 hours later. The nurse had to use smelling salts because I was knocked out cold. I awoke and I saw my minister standing at the foot of my bed with her daughter. My first words were "It wasn't that bad, was it?" She laughed and was glad I still had my sense of humour.