"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

Smile

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

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

How You Can Help Save A Life

How You Can Help Save A Life

Come out on June 17 to remember a bright, happy 14-year-old Granada High student who lost her battle with cancer. You can help save a life.




Tell Your Neighbors About Patch

On Oct. 27, 2008, Matt and Dana Croghan lost their 14-year-old daughter, Korrine, to the ravages of a rare form of cancer. No one would dispute that to lose a child is the worst nightmare a parent can face.

I met with Dana and her friend, Janet Hemmig a few days ago. From the quiet pauses in our conversation, it was clear that the memories and raw emotions are still fresh. Nearly tearing up, Croghan told me Korrine would have been a senior at Granada High this year.

"I don't ever want to forget a single moment," Croghan said.

Instead of focusing on the negative though, the Croghan family has thrown themselves into turning their pain into positive engergy to support other families who are going through the same thing. They have formed Team KC, which according to their Facebook page, is dedicated to supporting pediatric cancer patients and their families.

Twice a year, they hold a blood drive through theAmerican Red Cross in Korrine's memory, and dedicated to helping pediatric cancer patients who so desperately need blood just to survive.

Rare Blood

Korrine had "A" blood, a relatively rare blood type which only about 3.5 percent of the population has. After the first round of the intense chemo regimen, which was designed for an adult male, Korrine was left fighting for her life.

Croghan told me, "Korrine was white as a ghost because the chemo just wiped her out."

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough A-blood supply in the bay area to replenish her blood. Word went out through various networks, and more than 80 people with A- blood showed up at a drive atSmith Elementary to help Korrine survive. These life saving donations literally prolonged her life for more than 10 months, and gave her more time with her family and friends.

"It's a beautiful thing to see blood going into children and their cheeks pink up," she said.

Helping Others

Croghan described her daughter as a happy girl who never complained about all the needles or brutal chemotherapy treatments. When her hair started to come out, she told her mom it was time to shave her head.

They went to the hair salon, and after cutting her hair, the stylist put a pretty scarf on Korrine's head. Korrine took it off, and said, "I don't need this." She walked out proudly with her head up high, unembarrassed by the loss of her hair.

Later, when a nurse asked Korrine why she thought this was happening to her, she answered, "I believe my suffering is for God's glory." She said she truly knew what it was like to suffer, believing that through her suffering she was able to help others.

Those are powerful words coming from such a young girl, and through her legacy, she is helping and touching other lives.

There's no doubt that Korrine touched a lot of lives. My college-age step-daughter wore her Team KC on Korrine's birthday in April. The other day, a girlfriend came over to vist my step-daughter, and she had her Team KC sweatshirt on too.

How cool.

Dual Blood Drives

On June 17 from 1 to 7 p.m., the American Red Cross will staff two blood drives in Livermore, both dedicated to Korrine's memory. The Livermore Community drive and the Team KC drive have partnered together to provide life-giving blood to Bay Area hospitals.

The Team KC blood drive is hosted by Marcel Orthodontics located at 2084 4th Street in Livermore. Family and friends of Korrine will be there to welcome donors.

The bi-monthly Livermore Community blood drive is hosted at Asbury United Methodist Church, located at 4743 East Avenue.

Those who knew Korrine are encouraged to come to either drive and donate blood. To sign up online, go to http://www.redcrossblood.org and use TeamKC or Asbury925 as the sponsor code.

Dana said, "People see the importance of giving blood to help save lives and to make others feel better by their blood donations. Our blood is freely given to us, so in turn, we should freely give to others in need of our precious life saving blood."

Team KC Continues

The people at Team KC continue to reach out and help others. Each year, they hold a swim-a-thon to raise money for pediatric cancer patients at Kaiser. They donate toothbrushes, toothpaste, and stuffed animals.

They are working on some bigger plans with Kaiser in Oakland to build a Team KC House to give oncology and neonatal families a comfortable place to stay.

Their blog has brought awareness to pediatric cancer and the community from people all over the world.

Yes, Korrine is still fondly remembered and continues to touch lives in so many ways.

Did you know Korrine? Tell us in the comments.

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at 7:21 AM

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