"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
Team KC
The Croghan's wish all of you a Happy Easter. Thank you for your continued prayers. Pray for Korrine and her awesome Doctors as we meet with the oncology team on Monday to discuss the next course of action. Korrine is in great spirits and is looking forward to celebrating Easter with her family and friends. Thank you for your prayers and support. Happy Easter and may God bless you.
Stay Positive and LiveSTRONG,
The Croghan Family
15 comments:
Amen, my friend.
Happy Easter to you all.
With love, prayers and hope,
Sue Bakalar
AWESOME! We are believing with you!
Hi Dana, Matt, Korrine and Sean,
We are believing God along with you for Korrine's complete healing! We do have hope, because He lives. You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within our hearts and is very real to us! He is our HOPE. He is Risen indeed! Happy Easter! We love you,
Uncle Mark & Auntie Denise
Dear Korrine and family,
I wanted to share this poem with you that I wrote to celebrate my 1 year of being cancer free last summer. I hope you will enjoy reading it and be inspired by the words that flowed through me as I sat writing this poem in my backyard. The power of prayer and words is very strong; it has gotten me through many of the difficulties in my life.
May you all be blessed and feel peace as we celebrate Easter for HE IS RISEN. God is wonderful.
With love, Julie Snyder
A Lifetime
Courage, hope, fears
Wishes, joys, tears
What is the measure
Of a Lifetime?
Is it measured in
The lives you’ve touched,
The loves you’ve lost,
The hope you’ve brought
To the people around you?
Sunshine, smiles, rain
Laughter, love, pain
What is the measure
Of a Lifetime?
Is it measured in
The care you’ve taken,
The minds you’ve awakened,
The inspiration you’ve given
To the people around you?
The will to achieve
The spirit to endure
The courage to move on
When things are against you
The wisdom to share
The knowledge to convey
The understanding to impart
What life has to offer
The strength to survive
The dreams to realize
The hope to acquire
What life has to offer
Smiling, dreaming,
Hoping, scheming,
Loving, achieving
Living, believing
What is the measure of a Lifetime?
By Julia Grace
07/04/07
hey korrine and dana,
happy easter. and korrine is the strongest girl i have ever met. and i know all will come back in good news. so have a happy easter.
love always
korrina botelho.
Happy Easter,
We celebrate Easter because Jesus has Risen. Go forward and spread the Good News! He lives!!
He is our hope and salvation. All He asks is that we believe and receive Him into our lives. John 3:16
We believe our prayers are being answered and that you will receive good news on Monday.
You do have hope because you believe and have faith that God works all things for good for those that love Him.
We will continue praying for complete healing and Victory over this disease.
Your friends for eternity,
I hope you have a fun Easter Korrine! I miss you!
Prayers are being lifted up for you all from Discovery Bay!! He is Risen! Happy Easter!!
May the Lord Bless You and Keep You, May He Shine his Face upon you and give you Peace.
praying praying praying and loving you too.
The Esmeyers
Hi Korrine!
I'm just checking in on you and hoping that you're feeling well and that you had a fabulous Easter with all of your loved ones. :)
Stay strong and know you're loved and prayed for daily.
Love ya!
Sue Bakalar
Hi Korrine,
I hope you had a very good Easter, and that your doctor visit went well on Monday. I know God is watching over you. I miss you so much!
Love,
Emma [:
Hi Korrine,
I have been praying for you daily and know that you are in our Good Lord's hands. I hope your Easter was beautiful and that you were able to see some of the lovely signs of spring around.
Love, Mrs. Scarbrough
still believing...
Hi Korrine,
I keep checking in to see how your test results went. Sending positive energy flowing through the ethernet! I know if anyone can beat this thing it's you. Your positive attitude and smiling face inspire me.
Linda Morrison
aka Ceilidh's mom
One day at a time. Each day, we wake up to choose our direction for that day. Easter SON-rise reminds us that you can't keep a good man (or woman or girl or boy or family) down.
- Harry Briley - Dana and Matts' Trinity Baptist SS Class.
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