Surgery

Something had to change. He wanted his life back, and he almost lost everything to get it.

For 15 years, journalism teacher Corey Hale was stuck in a cycle of bad eating habits, increasing medical problems and blinding self-reliance.

Eventually, he was too heavy to use a regular scale. When he used a special one and saw 409 pounds, reality hit him. He couldn’t lie to himself anymore. The number he saw now started with a four.

He could handle a three. He convinced himself it was OK because of his past as an athlete.

But at 409 pounds, he felt like he was going insane.

“The old definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, and that’s kind of where I was,” Corey said.

Corey tried everything to lose weight, but nothing worked. As his weight continued to rise, he suffered from anxiety, depression, high blood pressure and obstructive sleep apnea. Finally, he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

“When they tell you you have type 2 diabetes, you just think, ‘I’m going to have this for the rest of my life,’” Corey said.

After that diagnosis, his doctor recommended weight loss surgery. Corey was unsure. It had a 99 percent survival rate, but he wasn’t worried about his safety. He didn’t want the “easy way” out. The highest number Corey ever saw on a scale was 471 pounds, but he was still convinced that he could lose the weight on his own.

His doctor disagreed, insisting this surgery was likely the only chance Corey had at being healthy again.

“It was that window of opportunity,” Corey said.

Corey decided to make a change and scheduled his surgery for Aug. 13, 2012. It seemed to go well, and he was out of the hospital within a few days. Though he was in a lot of pain, it was his first time having surgery, so he assumed the discomfort was normal.

On Aug. 24, Corey sat in his empty classroom at Lewisville High School, preparing for the school year, but the pain made it impossible. Coworkers looked at his colorless face and grew concerned. The Corey they knew turned the school newspaper into an award-winning powerhouse and recently won Teacher of the Year. They continuously asked if he was OK. Corey had the same answer every time. He just had surgery. He was just trying to get by.

That afternoon, he had a follow up appointment, but the doctor said his pain was normal and sent him home. A few minutes later, it became unbearable.

“I pulled over on the way home because I could barely drive,” Corey said.

As soon as he got home, Corey took pain medication, but threw it up. Suddenly, a radiating pain shot throughout his whole body.

“It was one of the worst pains I’ve ever felt in my entire life,” Corey said. “I was like, ‘Nothing about this is normal.’”

One of his internal sutures from the surgery had opened, causing an infection. He had developed sepsis, or blood poisoning. His organs were about to fail. Corey was at risk of being part of the one percent.

“I’m literally dying on the inside, not even metaphorically,” Corey said.

His roommate called an ambulance, but Corey was still more than 400 pounds. When they arrived, it was difficult to move him, costing them valuable  time.

The sirens wailed as the ambulance sped to Denton Regional, where his surgeon was prepping for emergency surgery.

He saw one of the assistant principals from Lewisville High School as he was wheeled into the operating room.

The faces of his surgeon and anesthesiologist are the last thing he remembers.

He wouldn’t be conscious again for weeks.