A Tribute To

Ilissa Dawn Beavers

Ilissa was a 38-year-old healthy, strong, vibrant, funny, and fun young woman when she was diagnosed with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. She passed away on August 23, 2021, after a brave, hard-fought two-year battle with a rare lung cancer mutation called BRAF-V600E. She bravely endured 5 different types of treatments, but due to the very rare, aggressive type of mutation she had, her options were very limited, and her treatments were often accompanied by grueling side effects and complications. However, Ilissa remained very open, honest, and candid about the difficulties she faced along the way in her brave efforts to fight off disease progression.

She was full of life and surrounded by wonderful family, friends, and community. She was a passionate and loving wife, mom, sister, and daughter. She was a group fitness instructor, loved animals, and worked as a ranch manager on the family cattle ranch, Black Hawk Farms.

Ilissa posted videos on Facebook detailing her journey, that included many of her thoughts and feelings and detailed explanations about her treatments and side effects throughout her two-year journey battling the disease. It was important to her that others learned from her experience. She wanted her followers to understand that lung cancer can happen to anyone, even if you were young and healthy like she was prior to her diagnosis with no known risk factors.

She also provided lots of inspiration for others through quotes and in the way she boldly put her thoughts into words to describe how she was feeling…even if it was raw, real, and hard to read. She wanted her followers to come along on her journey with her, to learn from her. In one of her posts she said, “…I just hope by sharing the heartbreaks and triumphs, that I will impact others to always look forward, never look back.” Ilissa led a good life, loved big, fought hard, but lung cancer took her from those who loved her dearly far too quickly and far too young!

Ilissa’s sister, Hannah, still keeps her Facebook blog page active. See more of Ilissa’s journey with stage IV lung cancer on her page titled:

Battling Lung Cancer: The Story of a Wife, Mother and Warrior