"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 teamed up with the American Red Cross for the Team KC blood drive. The blood drive was hosted by Marcel Orthodontics. This blood drive was no ordinary blood drive. We had food, drinks, snacks and Jamba Juice came out with fresh smoothies. We had a lot of fun visiting with friends and the community. Children came with their families and enjoyed being a part of the experience of helping save a life and being a part of the community. Marcel Orthodontics even came up with the blood drop costume worn by volunteers to wave at people and encourage people to stop by and donate.
On Friday June 19, 2009 from 1:00 to 7:00 At Marcel Orthodontics 70 units of blood was collected and at our second site at RLCC 65 units of blood was collected. Total units of blood 135 units affecting, helping and potentially saving the lives of 405 patients. The blood drive proved to be a huge success and will help save a life. The blood bank was low on blood and in desperate need especially with the upcoming 4th of July weekend when more blood is always needed. Just think, people have passed away because there was no blood available for them. This would have been the case for Korrine. We would have lost her sooner if people had not come out to donate A- blood for her.
We thank everyone who came out to give blood and we especially thank the American Red Cross and Marcel Orthodontics.
As our daughter Korrine Croghan so happily said
Stay Positive and LiveSTRONG,
Dana and Matt Croghan
4 comments:
I was happy to do it and really appreciate Marcel Orthodontics for letting the blood bank use their office. Everything was well run and everyone was so wonderful. Bless you guys for all you are doing!!
And Korrine continues to touch and save lives! What a great legacy.
Thinking of all of you with love,
Lorri
Dana, Matt, and Sean,
Congratulations on the successful blood drive! That is AWESOME!
My thoughts were with you on the evening of Saturday, June 27th... you in Livermore and I, in Rohnert Park... each sharing the same sky during a Relay for Life event. I had so wanted to come to the Livermore event but this year the two events were on the same weekend.
I got the Relay about 5 pm and walked a couple of laps around the track. Then I sat at the luminaria table to decorate a few bags. One for Korrine, with the yellow LIVESTRONG band and hearts. One for my brother, Roy, with a butterfly and basketball. Another one for my Dad and uncle.
I then had the pleasure of sitting for awhile with my brother's best friend... talking and crying, sharing and remembering. We then watched the ceremony which starts there each year with a man playing the bagpipes. A beautiful evening.
Hugs and much love to you all!
~kathy
Dear Croghans
You guys are an awesome family i'm praying for you guys everyday.
I pray that korrine is having a good time in heaven.
Hannah Hewitt
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