Welcome to the...
Inaugural Partners for Cancer Care and Prevention
HIPEC Awareness Talent Show
We are so excited for you to join us for this celebration of life after HIPEC!
Meet our Performers
1. Kyra Isaacs
Baltimore, MD
Kyra Isaacs is a Physician Assistant with The Department of Surgical Oncology at Mercy Medical Center. While she may spend her days taking care of patients at the hospital, she spends many evenings dancing the night away. Kyra has been swing dancing since 2011 and teaching at Mobtown Ballroom in Baltimore since 2016. She enjoys sharing her love of dance, and hopes you enjoy this demonstration of social dancing to the music she loves most.
​
Swing dancing to Two O’Clock Jump and Twisting the Night Away with Nii Attoh Okine
2. Sarah Seitz
Catonsville, MD (originally from Flint, MI)
Sarah Seitz is an educator with Howard County Public Schools. Prior to her career in education, she served in the US Air Force as a Signals Intelligence Analyst and Morse Code Operator. She and her husband Andy, Active Duty Air Force, have two children: their son, Finn (16) and daughter, Molly (14). Sarah was diagnosed with cancer in February 2023 and underwent the HIPEC survey on April 20, 2023.
Performing I'm Gonna Love You Through It by Martina McBride
3. Joe Finn
Leonardtown, Maryland
Originally from the Philly area, I moved to Maryland around 25 years ago when the software company I worked for relocated. I live here with my wife Sandra and our family. I picked up juggling as a hobby around 2006.
Performing a juggling routine to The Emperor’s Army
4. Bess Livioco
North Potomac, Maryland
I am the proud mom and grandma of 5 kids, that's including my wonderful daughters-in-law and 5 grandchildren!
Performing Who You Are To Me by Chris Tomlin and Have You Ever Seen the Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival with Henry Cornejo, son, and Payton Jacobs, grandson
5. Linnea Anderson
Forest Hill, Maryland
I have been happily married, since 2010, to my handsome, loving, and supportive husband, Ty. Our lives were made complete with the birth of our two children, Rhys and Synclaire. They are smart, talented, funny, compassionate, and encompass all that is good in this world. I've been a Nurse for almost 14 years and an Oncology Nurse Case Manager, at Mercy Medical Center, for 7 years. It is both an honor and a privilege to work with such amazing patients, their families, and so many talented and caring medical professionals (love my B15 family!). Every day, I am humbled watching our patients and the strength they exude.
This performance is dedicated to many people; my family, my cousin, Joe, and to one cancer patient in particular. I met Lauren in February of 2019 when she came to Mercy as a HIPEC patient and left as my dear friend. She lived every day with overwhelming positivity and advocacy for people faced with such a terrible disease; I hope she is smiling down on all of us tonight. To cancer patients everywhere, it is my hope that you have people, in your life, who make you feel loved and supported every day.
Performing Make You Feel My Love by Adele (written by Bob Dylan) with Ryan Fedak (Berklee College of Music Alumni, local multi-instrumentalist & teacher)
6. Sheri Jackson-Doss
San Antonio, Texas
I am a wife and mother of two amazing adult daughters. I have enjoyed volunteering in several nonprofit organizations throughout the years, spending the bulk of my time with the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Seven months after the completion of my term as State President of Texas PTA, I was diagnosed with Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PMP). My life went from 100 mph to a complete halt overnight!
In March 2021, my initial oncologists gave me 3 months to live without surgery, and up to 3 years with the surgery. After attending a Zoom call hosted by PMP Pals, a support group specifically for those with PMP and Appendix Cancer, I was referred to, Dr. Armando Sardi. On June 29, 2021, Dr. Armando Sardi performed the CRS/HIPEC and saved my life. Since recovery, I’ve been present for many milestone celebrations of family, friends, and myself, and I look forward to being around for many more.
By participating in the talent show today, I hope to encourage others to put aside fears and embrace courage to live your life to the fullest of your abilities. We only live once, so recapture those things you love. Try something new. Just live!!!
Performing Stand By Me by Ben E. King
Brief Intermission.
A word from PFCCAP Board Members and Abdominal Cancers Alliance advocates,
Gary Young and Linda McLaughlin.
The Abdominal Cancers Alliance, a patient-led organization, is a central education and information hub providing resources and accurate, updated information to patients and families about abdominal cancers. The Abdominal Cancers Alliance assists patients in getting the proper information regarding their cancer treatment in a timely manner and connects them with organizations, other patients, and the medical community, to provide resources in all phases of the patient journey from diagnosis to treatment and survivorship.
7. Susan Lisovicz
Hoboken, NJ
Susan Lisovicz is a journalist, educator and bad-ass good-doer. Susan’s journalism career includes 25 years as a correspondent at CNN and CNBC. She is best known for her business reporting from Wall Street, where she was a frequent presence during the dot.com boom, 9/11 and the Great Recession. Her field reporting includes hurricanes from the Gulf of Mexico, wildfires from Southern California and the Democratic and Republican national conventions. Her overseas work includes stories from Bangladesh, Kenya, New Zealand, Panama, South Africa and Switzerland. Susan’s teaching career includes the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and her alma mater, William Paterson University, where she received the President’s Medal. The bulk of her teaching has been at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. She has also reported for The Associated Press and written stories for the Arizona Republic, Yahoo Finance and The Washington Post. Susan has been a recipient of two East-West Center journalism fellowships in Asia and a RIAS fellowship in Europe. She is a former president and board member of the New York Financial Writers Association.
Susan spent a month volunteering in Dhaka, Bangladesh at the international health research institution, ICDDR,B. She has served as a volunteer camp counselor at Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Camp for kids with health issues. She is a former board member of the Child Health Foundation. She is a board member of the Hoboken Community Center and the advisory committee of the William Paterson Communications Department. She has a dedicated investment account called “Do Good Things,” which helps support a number of health and environmental causes.
​
Performing I Won't Back Down by Tom Petty and To Love Somebody by the Bee Gees.
8. Victoria Chung
Calgary Alberta, Canada
I was diagnosed with OVCC in July 2020 (midst of Covid pandemic) and was told I had 3-6 months to live. My OVCC journey has been physically/emotionally challenging with bumps and potholes. I am thankful for Dr. Sardi, Dr. Ledakis, Dr. Akhter and their great medical teams and my family support along the way. I was an Accountant with an Oil/Gas Company in Calgary. I had an active lifestyle, enjoying the outdoors, cruising and traveling. I also enjoy playing the guitar with family and friends.
Performing Bad Timing by Blue Rodeo with Russell Kentish, nephew
9. Gina Kruml
Fairfax, Virginia
Gina is originally from Nebraska but now makes Fairfax Virginia her home, with her husband and four children. Gina’s cancer first became obvious with a quickly growing large ovarian mass that was removed in her first surgery in January 2021. Pathology reports showed that the cancerous tumor on her ovary had originated from her appendix. Disease had also spread throughout her abdomen, so further surgery was definitely needed. The diagnosis was stage 4 LAMN appendix cancer. In March 2021 Dr. Sardi and team performed a very successful HIPEC surgery to remove all the remaining cancer. Now Gina is back at work as a nurse practitioner. Making a difference for other people’s health is especially meaningful after going through cancer herself. She also loves vegetable gardening and cooking foods from around the world.
Performing Menuet and Spirit Dance from Orpheus by C. W. von Gluck
10. Lisa L. Daniels
Rockford, Illinois
Pushing a stroller as a teen mother and teen bride, it never occurred to Lisa Daniels that 30 years later, she'd be pushing time zones working for global companies. Just as she was graduating from high school, her son DeMarco was born. College never crossed her mind but after her marriage to her son's father ended, Lisa pursued and completed a bachelor's and master's degree from Illinois State University and then made her way to the East coast with the hope of providing her son with more educational opportunities and a richer life experience than the small town that she grew up in. While working in corporate America, Lisa was a self-proclaimed health nut, focusing on a plant-based diet and 5-7 miles of walking/running, along with very little alcohol and sugar. That is why she was even more surprised when after months of troubling symptoms and multiple misdiagnoses, she found out the day after her birthday, on November 1, 2022, that she had late stage ovarian cancer and she was BRCA positive. Her son, who works in the medical field, learned about HIPEC and she was then introduced to the amazing Dr. Sardi and team. At first, she was not a candidate because her cancer had spread. But through the brilliance of Dr. Ledokas, who increased her pre-surgery chemo treatments, the cancer had then been contained to her abdomen. She underwent HIPEC this year, on Valentine's Day, and due to the extra love and expertise of the entire Mercy Medical team, she tolerated the surgery and is doing extremely well today.
Performing original poetry composition: “Cancer Has a New Face”
11. Paul Kalusa
Woodbridge, Virginia (originally from Zambia, Africa)
Hello, my name is Paul Kalusa. I am 39 years old, married, and have a beautiful 2 and half year old daughter. When she was 2 months old I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. After the tumor was removed I was given 9 months to live, and was told with aggressive chemotherapy I might have maybe 12 months. After 7 rounds of chemo I met Dr. Sardi and had the HIPEC procedure. When I had blood work done a few weeks after that, they couldn’t find anything anymore - every cancerous cell had disappeared due to the HIPEC surgery. Today I am cancer free!
Performing an African Praise Medley with Eseiche on keys, Jayden on drums, Paul on bass, and Lisa and Ethel on vocals
Thank you to our sponsor:
