"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
Hello All! Korrine finished her 2nd round of chemo last night and was able to go home almost immediately after. She had a great 5 days in the hospital, but is SO happy to be home.
Due to excellent care from the staff at Kaiser hospital, new medications and of course all of your prayers and positive thoughts, round 2 was so much better than the first! Korrine's doctors decided to try a new set of medications to help ease some of the effects of chemo, and the miracle "cocktail" worked! The medications completely eliminated nausea, so Korrine was able to stay strong through the entire treatment. This is a huge improvement from round 1. Praise God!
Korrine is very tired, and is experiencing some new side effects, but is keeping her trademark positive attitude. She may need to have a blood transfusion later in the week, but we aren't positive. If you are new to Korrine's blog, please read through her timeline and some of the earlier posts to learn more about Choriocarcinoma . You can also check out the Lance Armstrong Foundation website for more information by clicking HERE.
Thank you for you continued prayers and support. In Korrine's words..."STAY POSITIVE."
LIVESTRONG!
The Croghan Family
11 comments:
Hey Korrine!
Round 2 done! I am so happy that you felt stronger this round and that you will keep getting stronger! Ana and I told my polo team about you(at CSU Hayward)and how you are such a confident, intense polo player and they think you are admirably strong! They all can't wait for you to beat this cancer so you can come and watch our games and see some college polo because you will be there in a couple of years!
Love to you and your family,
Mary Rosa
hey korrine :)
round 2!! im so happy to hear you voice on the computer! it makes me pray even harder for you to let me know that you are still up and fighting strong. i hope everything is going well for you. you look so strong and healthy in your video.HURRAY. glad to hear that you got to go home. keep fighting korrine.
love always
~korrina botelho~
Oh Yeah! You are almost done. You are kicking this cancer's butt. I hope you are enjoying being home. We changed seats in core today and I sit closer yo the door, that was about the most interesting thing today. Oh and in Spanish i said poopular instead of popular today, I felt pretty cool, lol. Hope you are feeling well. Love Anja
Hi Korrine~
I'm so thrilled to hear that you took Round 2 and it was so much better for you and that you're back home already.
Keep positive and stay strong.
Hugs to the whole family and a HUGE one for you!!
Love,
Sue Bakalar
Korrine~
What a great blessig to be able to come home. I know how much you must like being in your very own bed, with your family around, and all of the familuar sounds. I am glad to hear that you feel better this second round. You can beat this!! You have already touched so many lives because of your strength and the example you are of "and this too shall pass".
Hey Korrine, beautiful girl,
So happy to hear that round 2 is done and that you felt so much stronger. You are helping all of us to live stronger every day. Because of you we are reminded to "Stay positive" when we fall down. Can't wait to give you a great big hug! We love you!!!
Love, Kyle, Janet & Chad
Hey Korrine
Today was my bday & what a gift to hear that you did so well with Round 2! You're amazing young lady & so is our God! I love your 'stay positive' attitude! I am glad you are home again. Remember you are surrounded by angels...Love Maxine & Sammi Hammons & Family
Live Strong-Go Team KC!!!
Even YOUTH'S will become weak and tired and young men will fall in exhaustian. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength, they will soar high on wings like agles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
I look forward to Korrine running on the track team again and never growing weary.
Did you know that Korrine not only plays Water Polo but run's Track and Field for her Middle School. She is an athlete of spirit and of strength.
I claim God's words for my daughter today. But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. I look forward to her finding new strength.
Isaiah 40:30-31
Dana Croghan
Hi-Korrine-Yea!your home. You have the most beautiful eyes. I believe you inherited them from you mom.You are a light. You are strong.Stanford will be lucky to have you on their team.If I am correct you did receive a sew machine? There are patterns online that are fun to look at. God bless you-love Shirley
Dear Croghan Family,
I remember when Mr.Croghan brought Korrine to school with him and she looked so healthy and beautiful.Finding out that Korrine has cancer was surprising but from the pics on her blog she looks just as healthy and beautiful as she did the day our class first met her. LIVE STRONG AND BE STRONG!!! I wish you guys the best of luck!
Hey There Korrine,
Thank you so much for teaching the rest of us about strength and faith. Peace be with you.
Liz Oettel (Canyon Middle School)
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