"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting."
Mother Teresa
Cancer stripped her of everything including her life but it could not steal away God's LOVE, PEACE and the JOY that radiated through her. Korrine never stopped SMILING!
Korrine Lannie Croghan
Korrine Croghan was a vivacious 14-year-old girl who lived all of her life in Livermore, CA. She had a love for animals, sports, and most of all, family. Korrine was a straight “A” student while attending Mendenhall Middle School and was working hard in her first trimester at Granada High. She was a great friend to many and was everything that a brother, mother and father could ask for in a daughter. Korrine was the type of girl who would greet you with a wide smile and look into your eyes and truly would want to know how you were doing
Korrine & Cancer
On December 20th, 2007, Korrine was diagnosed with Choriocarcinoma with a germ cell element. Choriocarcinoma is a very rare type of cancer in teenage girls and inflicts less than 200 nationwide each year. Although the cancer started in her left ovary, the cancer had spread to her right ovary, lungs and liver. After the removal of a cantaloupe sized tumor in her left ovary on December 21st of 2007, Korrine, endured 10 months of intense chemotherapy designed for adult men.
During the course of her treatment, Korrine suffered many complications. In early April of 2007, her liver began to bleed. After staying at Kaiser Oakland for almost two weeks, Korrine was transfered to UCSF and spent a month in the intensive care unit. The doctors at UCSF Medical Center were finally able to stop her bleeding liver, but, not before it filled her abdomen with 5 liters of blood that had to be drained via a tube inserted into her stomach. On top of that, both of Korrines’ lungs collapsed while undergoing a CT scan that almost took her life. Because of that, 2 liters of fluid needed to be drained off of her lungs with the use of another drainage tube. Throughout her treatment Korrine needed numerous blood and platelet transfusions. She had nosebleeds that lasted an hour on several occasions. At one point, she had 18 intravenous tubes running through her body filled with anti-bacterials, anti-fungals, nutrition, painkillers and chemotherapy. Korrine miraculously made it through those tough days at UCSF and returned to Kaiser Hospital in Oakland. She was finally stable and was released to go home in late June. Just as things were starting to look up for her, she suffered septic shock in July that forced her to go back into intensive care at Kaiser in Santa Clara for 2 weeks.
Korrine returned home in late July and went through imaging scans to see if the cancer had disappeared. The scans always came back good, but not great. In an effort to kill and stop the remaining cancer cells, she underwent an emergency round of chemotherapy in early September. Unfortunately, it did kill the remaining cancer and her doctors had run out of options.
Korrine spent her last days at home with her family reading books and loving on her cats and dog. She passed away quietly, at home, on October 27th, 2008. Through it all, Korrine had a positive attitude and never gave up or complained. Many consider Korrine a hero.
Team KC
The Team KC website was originally started as a way to encourage, educate, raise awareness, and keep friends and family informed with accurate information on Korrine's treatment and progress. Family, classmates, friends, community members, and complete strangers rallied to support Korrine and her family through her fight against Choriocarcinoma. We were amazed by the amount of support we received, and it is now our desire to give back. In March, 2009, Team KC became an official nonprofit by joining forces with Kaiser Foundation Hospital. All monies raised by Team KC will directly benefit pediatric cancer patients and their families. All monetary contributions are tax deductible.
Our Mission: To help improve the quality of life of pediatric cancer patients and their families. We wish to supply children with fun activities, toys and anything else that will brighten and better their lives. Monies will also be used to help parents pay for bills and defray the costs of gas, food and lodging that go along with caring for a child with cancer.
Stay Positive, LIVESTRONG & Welcome to Team KC!
*This is the official Team KC website and the only website approved by the Croghan family. Please do not use content, images, or video from this site without permission. This is an effort to respect the family's privacy and ensure that all content is accurate and approved. Thank you for your cooperation.
A Note From Korrine (written after her 4th round of Chemo)...
Hello everyone! It's me, Korrine. I just wanted to take a
moment to thank each and every one of you for supporting me through emails,
visits, food, gifts, and most importantly, prayer. Without it, I probably
wouldn't have made it this far. Anyways, on a happier note, I am happy to
announce that I am feeling very good. This last round of chemo hit me pretty
hard, but I think that it is more exiting to end things with a big BANG! I will
try to start writing things for the blog now that my chemo therapy is over, but
until then, just know that I love every single one of you and I am always
thinking about my family, friends, and even the people who I've never met
before. Thanks for joining my battle and for making this experience "The
Experience of a Lifetime." LIVESTRONG! And stay positive.
Korrine Lannie Croghan
Starting today, Korrine will be in the hospital for one week. During this time, she will receive the first of 12 chemotherapy treatments. The current plan is that she will have one treatment every three weeks. As you can imagine, it is a very stressful time for the family and they need as much rest as possible. With that said, we are requesting that there be no visitors and/or phone calls to the hospital during this time. We will post regular updates as we receive them from Matt and Dana and will do our best to keep you updated on her progress, milestones, and daily activities on this blog. Thank you for your continued love and support. LIVESTRONG!
This Week's Prayer:
Please pray for comfort, peace and healing.
Coming Soon....
A bank account is being set up as well as a fundraiser and plan for meals. More on this to follow.
7 comments:
Korrine,
Boy you sure have alot of Christmas decorations! Smile! It only took seven of us all day to put them away! Lol! Your Mom has prepared your home for your arrival. It's nice and clean and tidy. Full of love, hope and peace. Hang in there! Your a champion fighting the good fight! Don't ever give up! LIVE STRONG! Your kitties miss you!
All my love,
Shellee
The angels are smiling down upon you from Heaven in response to all these prayers and well wishes...we are sending 5 more your way.
I've seen you at school and I hope you get better soon so you can light up the school again.
My sisters have seen you at their school and your mommy yard duties at my school. I know you will get through this because I know you're strong enough.
Korrine:
Stay strong and let those that love you be strong for you too. I will pray for you and the family. I went to high school with your dad, so us old friends are praying and hoping for you all. God Bless and stay strong.
Bob Guthmiller
Fremont, CA
hey this is nika from creekside...i wanted to let u know that creekside middle is having bake sales and stuff just for u..i really hope u get well
heres my email blooberygirl@yhoo.com massage me if feel like it
I have never met you and probably never will and yet when i heard your story I felt such a strong hope for you. I or shall i say we all knew we needed to do something for you and your family. Together we are putting on a "Skills for Bills" talent fundraising event that i could sent to you if you like, a whole "Doller Makes a Differnce Week", a bake sale(yum) and whatever else we can do. I myself am a beliver in God and he has you here for a reason, he will give you strengh and hope and love and everything you need. Keep up the good fight. "Do not worry about tommoro, tommoro will worry about itself, each day has enough troubles of its own" Mathew 6:14 (i think) this verse has gotton me through many a tough day, i hope i can help you. You have my prayers.
-A Stranger Who Cares
hay im malia =]]
you're so lucky to have Trevor
as a unce/godfather tell him malia
says hi plz lol i go to creekside
and m in 8thg grade if ur board and wana talk 2 some one u can email me at "hottiecowgirl14@aol.com" keep smiling malia =]]]
we dont know each other. i heard ur story from a friend of mine. i cried hearing ur video message. it was good to see that even going threw all this ur spirit still shines bright & u have the hope & strength most lack. i pray for ur health. but most of all i pray u dont lose sight of those who mean the most to u, for im sure u mean the world to them. its just an opinion of mine. but love is the greatest mericle in life. & u are most definitely loved. god has already blessed u in so many ways. keep fighting. show him the life he gave, ur not ready to give back just yet. ur in my prayers.
hoping for the best in NC.
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