By Pamela McGowan

Last updated at 10:10, Friday, 13 June 2008

This time last year mum-of-two Jane Kirby was so big she struggled to walk round the supermarket once a week.

Jane Kirby - now

But now, after shedding a massive 12 stone with the help of life-changing gastric bypass surgery, she is about to take part in 10km charity walk.

Jane, 39, of Rosley, is one of 25 obese north Cumbrians to have the controversial stomach-stapling operation in 2006/07.

It is a step further than the gastric band television presenter Fern Britton recently admitted having fitted to aid weight loss – a move which attracted widespread criticism. But Jane, who spent a year fighting for approval to go under the knife, has hit back at the critics who say that surgery is the easy way out.

She has now decided to share her story in a bid to dispel the myths and help others who could benefit from surgery.

By the time she decided to get help, Jane was a colossal 26 stone 10 lbs and had a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 58, when anything above 30 is classed as obese. All previous attempts to lose weight had failed due to her size and because she was virtually immobile, she continued to gain more weight.

Jane, who has an 18-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter, feared for her health and was desperate for a solution.

In 2006 she approached her GP and he agreed that she needed surgery. He applied to the local Primary Care Trust (PCT) for funding and her battle for surgery began.

Jane, who works for Children’s Services, said to qualify she had to prove that she had tried various diets and exercise regimes, without success, and that she was psychologically ready to change her entire lifestyle permanently.

Even after meeting the guidelines she had to spend three months attempting to shed some of her weight with the help of medication before they would risk surgery.

She managed to lose five of the 13 stone 10 lbs doctors said she needed to lose and was then referred to a surgeon in the North East, as the operation is not available in Cumbria. She finally had the surgery – which reduces stomach capacity permanently and alters the bowel so only a certain amount of food can be absorbed at one time – in March last year. Since then Jane says her life has changed drastically.

“I’ve been limited in everything I eat since the surgery and always will be. I eat six small meals a day and can only have a few mouthfuls before I’m full. If I thought I was on a diet beforehand it’s nothing to how it is now,” she said.

“I am now committed to keeping my weight down, eating healthily and taking exercise or I could get really ill.”

But the life overhaul has been worth it for Jane, who has shed 12 stone since the operation and reduced her BMI to 30. She still has a long way to go but says the fact she is no longer too heavy to exercise has made all the difference.

She can now walk seven miles at a time and is being sponsored to complete the 10km Midnight Walk for the hospice next weekend. Jane, who has a partner, Alex Foster, said the recent criticism in the media – including comments by Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb – is unjust.

“With Fern Britton I think it’s the fact that she kept it secret that she’d had a band fitted and made out she’d done it through healthy eating and exercise,” she said.

“But it is a taboo subject and people think it’s an easy option, but it really isn’t. I was absolutely desperate. It is a drastic operation and not something you do lightly. One in 50 people die after having it. I get mixed reactions. Some people think it’s fantastic, others think I’ve copped out.

“The positive impact this operation has had on my life both emotionally, mentally and physically is something you cannot put a monetary value on. My only regret is that I didn’t look into it earlier.”

Jane is now helping others with obesity problems, including offering pre and post operation support through the website www.buddypower.com.

She is also keen to set up a local support group. To get in touch with Jane contact health reporter Pamela McGowan on 01228 612661.

First published at 05:32, Friday, 13 June 2008
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk