"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
Korrine has been suffering fatigue and a lot of pain. Korrine has a very high pain tolerance so when she says her pain is a 7 that is more like a 9 or 10 to us on a scale of 1 to 10. We met with pre-surgery today and Korrine is scheduled to have her broviac removed at 10:30 on Monday. At 3:30 today the Oncology Doctors ordered a Ultra Sound of Korrine's liver. The ultra sound showed new lesions and we will be meeting with the Oncologist next week. Please keep Korrine in your prayers. Team K.C., You have been so kind, faithful and generous. To be honest we want Korrine to feel good again it just feels like it has been a lifetime in only 4 months.. She has not felt good in so long. She is so amazing, courageous and always keeps a good attitude. Thank you for not giving up on us and especially Korrine, She needs your prayers and support. We have great plans to help families in need someday but as for now we need you to keep praying for Korrine and encouraging her as it keeps her spirits up. Thank you for all the fundraising efforts. It has helped us so much to reduce that added worry and stress over finances while dealing with the cancer. Let's all stay Strong and Positive together and let's never give up the Faith. We love you all!
Stay Positive and LiveSTRONG
The Croghan Family
7 comments:
Korrine and family,
You are always close at heart and in my thoughts and prayers. I look at my LIVESTRONG bracelet several times a day and it always brings me back to thoughts of you.
I do have faith and believe that your oncologists are finding the best treatments for you to beat this. With each test and evaluation they look closely at the advances in medicine. Each day, new and improved medicines and procedures are available.
I'll be thinking about your appointments this upcoming week and watching for updates... but I'll also be thinking of your birthday, Korrine, and hoping you have something special planned for your special day! We share the same birthday month so I know we have something pretty special in common... us "April" birthday girls!!
hugs and love, kathy t.
Korrine, I am praying for you here in Colorado, and pray that the fatigue and pain can be resolved a.s.a.p. You deserve every happiness, and I pray for complete healing for you...stay strong, and know that thoughts and prayers are coming your way! SMILES!!! Denise Kofford Ü
Hi Korrine, Dana and family...praying for all of you and wishing you weren't going through this. I'm sure at times it seems like a bad dream except the pain makes you know it's real. In the midst of confussion and pain, I pray that God is your comfort and peace. One day at a time. Love, Lorri
Korrine,
You are in the thoughts and prayers of our entire family everyday. We want you to know that we had the privilege to be in Israel last week and while in Jerusalem we visited the wailing wall (the wall that people fold up prayers on tiny pieces of paper and place in the cracks between the stones). It is a very special place for prayer. We want you to know that you have a prayer for your complete healing placed in that wall in Jerusalem (the Holy Land). You were first and foremost in our hearts and mind when we approached the wall. Keep your faith sweetheart. You have everyone who knows you on your side helping you win this battle. Happy upcoming birthday and may all your birthday wishes come true.
Dave and Mary Dunn
(Keith Testerman/Courtney Dunn's parents)
Hi Croghan family!
I am sorry to hear about the pain that you are in Korrine. You are such a fighter and an inspiration. I believe in you and have faith that His plan for you is great. Keep your fighting spirit, CutiePie.
Please know that you are in my prayers, as well as those in my prayer group.
With love~
Sue Bakalar
Korrine, We're so sorry you are having so much pain. You have handled all this so well, and we only wish the best for you. We hope that your pain eases soon. Take care and remember that you have a lot of friends praying for you!
Stu, Cindy & Kat Gary
Hi Korrine,
Ian and I are with you in spirit, and we firmly believe that with the strong faith that you and your family have, it is just a matter of time before we will be seeing more photos of you at the polo pool.Keep the faith and you will be strong.OUR birthdays are coming next friday.I am sending you a really cute card, just hope it does not get lost in the card shuffle with all the cards you will be getting.
God bless you dear one, and your family too.
Dana and Matt, we think of you SO often and we will see you soon.
Much love and prayers from,
Debby and Ian
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