Suzette Jasmin – Recovery from kidney cancer surgery

Suzette Jasmin shares how Lifegain Advanced Nutritional Supplement helped her recovery after kidney cancer surgery.

Suzette Jasmin (61) stays in Johannesburg, Gauteng. She is divorced and has four children.

In August 2012, Suzette was diagnosed with kidney cancer. This came after consulting a urologist her GP referred her to as she had symptoms of blood in her urine as well as abdomen pain.

“I was sent for a CT scan and when discussing the surgery, this young doctor put so much fear in me. He said it’s such a difficult surgery as the mass is 12,5cm and he doesn’t know how he is going to do it but he will just have to, and went on to say that I may not survive the operation. I never went back,” Suzette explains.

A year wait

Almost a year later, in July 2013, Suzette finally had the surgery. “A friend of mine referred me to a new urologist and thankfully I could trust him and had confidence in that he knew what he was doing,” Suzette says.

In this time, Suzette said she managed her pain with pain killers and turned a blind eye to the blood in her urine. She adds, “Prayer is what got me through this year of waiting.”

The surgery

By this time the kidney tumour grew by 2cm and the new urologist booked her in that same week. “He explained it was a delicate surgery as the tumour was very close to the main artery but thankfully the cancer was confined only to the right kidney. The surgery was planned for four hours but landed up being six hours long,” Suzette explains.

Suzette’s whole right kidney was surgically removed.

“I was in ICU for a few days and then moved to a normal ward. I was I in so much pain after the surgery and couldn’t eat,” Suzette says.

Thankfully her ex mother-in-law was very supportive and came and assisted her and the kids. “My mom and sister also came from KwaZulu-Natal to stay with me and help with the housework and children while I recovered.”

Lifegain Advanced Nutritional Supplement

Unfortunately Suzette continued to have severe pain once she was recovering at home and found it difficult to eat, especially to swallow. She started feeling weak and knew she had to do something to gain her strength back.

“I saw a post about Lifegain on social media and thought that I should try it. It was a lifesaver! It was easy to swallow as it was a liquid and it sustained me and gave me energy. I took it every day for two weeks, thereafter every third day for three months.”

Slowly Suzette was back to good health and was managing her home and responsibilities as usual. Due to the whole right kidney being removed, Suzette has maintain a healthy diet but she does have to take uric acid drops to reduce the acid build-up in her body as with only one kidney, it doesn’t filter optimally.

For the love of vanilla 

Suzette has been cancer-free for 11 years and is grateful for her second chance and for how Lifegain Advanced Nutritional Support helped her recovery. Even though at the time, her medical aid didn’t cover the cost, she says it was worth it. “Lifegain really helped me in the most difficult time of my life of which I’m extremely grateful for.”

She adds that the vanilla flavour is her favourite and she still drinks it every now and then when she feels she needs a boost.”