"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
Nothing is too difficult for Him! Genesis 18:14
It's time to get on our knees. Matt & Dana wanted you all to know that Korrine’s cancer is very serious. The cancer has spread and she will have a bone scan tomorrow. Korrine has stage 4 Choriocarcinoma germ cell cancer. She is very weak and hasn’t been able to eat much for the past few weeks. She has a nutritionist working with her and they are keeping her hydrated and supplementing food with nutrition drinks. Matt & Dana are relieved that she will be starting chemotherapy this morning at 10:30am.
Korrine will receive treatments for the next 5 days. Her immune system will shut down and she can’t take any chances of getting sick. The medications that the doctor’s think will work best are Cisplatin, Bleomycin & Etaposide. The treatment plan is 5 days on, two weeks off and then another 5 days on and in the hospital.
The biggest possible side effect from these particular medications is hearing loss. Let’s pray that God will spare her from this! For now, please keep posting those wonderful and encouraging message on her blog spot. They are giving them strength and hope!
**Please no phone calls or visits until further notice**
Love,
The Croghan Family
6 comments:
Hello Korrine, my girlfriend and I used to play water polo in Colorado with your friend Kyle Beach. He told us about you and that you're a fantastic water polo player. We are saddened to hear about your diagnosis. We hope that your love and enthusiasm for water polo continue to bring you deep joy. As fellow polo players, we will think of you every time we get in the pool here in New York City. Have a happy New Year and enjoy the holiday season with your family.
Korrine
Last night at midnight
Sammi & I got in a circle with the other kids we were with and we all prayed for you!
Sammi says Korrine is a good swimmer, she's on a team.
She loves you!
Love Maxine Hammons
Dear Korrine... I am a friend of your cousin Tristen, and she recently told me of your battle. I wanted to stop by here and write you a little message. I recently spent some time in the hospital myself, and I know that it is definitely not fun. I was in a major car accident, one that took the life of my best friend. Everyone still says its a miracle that I am alive, but I believe that God saved me, and I was told that he has a plan for everyone. Tristen told me a little about you and from what she said, you are definitely an amazing girl and a special person, and I have faith that God will keep you safe.
Your family truly has amazing love and support for you, and the support you are receiving will help be your light through it all. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers and pray that 2008 is your year Korrine. Godspeed child.
Hi Korrine. It's cousin Shauna! I've been wanting to come see you but I know your not feeling well. I just want you to know that you are in my thoughts everyday. I wear a picture of you in my name badge at work and all the Sears employees and some customers are praying for you. I hope this new year we just started brings luck and lots of happiness. I love you very much Korrine and I can't wait for you to get better. I love you. I'll just keep praying for the best.
Hi Korrine,
My granddaughter, Kylie Muzzall, is in your brother Sean's class at Smith School. A few days ago Kylie asked me if we could pray for you, so right then we said a prayer. We will keep on praying for you till you're well.
Wishing you all the best.
Jean
Hi Korriney, We wanted you to know that we have started a prayer circle for you at our church and that Taylor has sent a prayer chain to all of her friends via text and that we are all are confident that God has such a special plan for you and that he is holding you so dear to him. We pray for his will and to see you soon with your big smiling face and to have a playoff in bocce ball, boys against the girls. You keep fighting honey, and know that we all love you dearly. We would love to come see you when you are ready. xoxo Greg, Kirsten, Jacquelin, Ross, Taylor and Cappers
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