The Joan Levy Bisesi Foundation
Fund-raising - Columbus, Ohio, United States
The Joan Levy Bisesi Foundation Employees
The Joan Levy Bisesi Foundation Details
Joan Levy Bisesi, beloved wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend, was always positive and courageous, even throughout a painful battle against cancer. In 1996, at age 29, Joan developed canker sore-like tumors in her mouth and was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma. This type of cancer is rare for someone in her twenties without normal risk factors. But while rare, unfortunately Joan's situation is not unique. Statistics document an increasing incidence of squamous cell carcinoma among young people. Joan immediately underwent treatment for her cancer. In the fall of 2000, just before celebrating five cancer-free years, Joan found her cancer had returned. As she was finishing radiation treatments after a second surgery, she learned she was pregnant. Although worried about her physical ability to handle the pregnancy and birth, she was ecstatic! Joan's pregnancy was difficult and she struggled to stay healthy. As she planned for her baby's arrival in November 2001, she learned her cancer had returned a third time. The baby was delivered in September, several weeks early, to give Joan the ability to undergo another surgery but, sadly, it was too late. The cancer had become inoperable. Joan died on November 23, 2001, when her beautiful daughter, Mira Sophia, was only 10 weeks old. Joan's Foundation is dedicated solely to head and neck oncology. Our mission is to improve lives by raising funds to support head and neck cancer research, education, awareness, and survivorship.
