The Katie Corun Story - Harford Style Magazine

HOPE
Having Only Positive Expectations
The Katie Corun Story
Fourth floor nurse at Harford Memorial Hospital, Katie Corun is a shining example
of the truth in miracles and the positive - possibly even healing power of never
giving up hope. As a young woman, Katie was like any other Harford County girl.
Employed by Upper Chesapeake, she was working her way through nursing school.
In her free time Katie liked to Country line dance. While out dancing one evening
with friends Katie met her husband to be Ronald.
Katie & Ron were married in
December of 2010, just as she
was finishing up her first year
or nursing school. In their early
30's the couple was looking
forward to a bright future.
Ron was working at GBMC
as an accountant and Katie was
working her way though her
second year of nursing school.
They bought a house in Fallston and settled into a normal routine. Shortly thereafter
Katie could tell something was wrong... but she didn't know what. She felt like
she was losing her mind. "I thought it was just stress from school, but it continued
over Spring break. I was moody and angry, I felt like my personality was changing,"
explained Katie. On a trip to Florida during their Summer vacation, things got really
bad for Katie. Ron had no idea how to help... neither of them knew what was wrong.
They returned home and Katie started her third semester at school. On September
9th, 2011 Katie was in Joppa Hall at HCC attending a neurology lecture. "The
professor was talking about neurological disorders... headaches, when all of a sudden
I started to see black spots in my right eye. I told the girl next to me I couldn't see
the words on the board. I went to the nursing station and flushed my eye... nothing.
I went home and took a nap. I woke up and it still wasn't any better," she explained.
Katie reached out to her mom, Kathy Robinette, who suggested Katie sleep on it
and see how things are in the morning. The next day, things had not improved with
Katie's vision. She phoned her doctor who sent her to Parris Castoro. They found her
right pupil wasn't constricting as quickly as the left. They didn't know why... more
testing needed to be done. She was sent to a Downtown Baltimore hospital to meet
with a neuro-opthomologist for an MRI. For some reason they never heard back on
the results. Her symptoms were getting worse. The next test was a lumbar puncture.
"I vividly remember laying on the table and looking over at the picture of a brain scan
on the monitor. I asked the technician, what that huge mass was in the center... he
was stunned that I knew what I was looking at. All he said was 'You need to follow
up on this,' " Katie explained.
Katie was still working, and trying to keep up the semblance of a social life. Out
one evening having dinner with friends Katie suddenly realized she couldn't hold
263www.harfordstyle.com4
Katie & Annick Desjardins, MD, FRCPC
Associate Professor of Neurology
her head up. Her husband quickly ushered her into the car and they went to pick
up Katie's mother and headed to the emergency room of the hospital where she had
gone for treatment. The attending physician was shocked that Katie hadn't received
a diagnosis yet. Poor Katie couldn't even stand up. They admitted her immediately.
"They started me on steroids, so I gained about 60 pounds in 3 weeks," said Katie. A
biopsy was scheduled. On September 30th, Katie said a tearful goodbye to her family,
not knowing if she would ever see them again, and they wheeled her down the hall
to get some answers. "Nine hours later, I was reunited with Ron and my Mom and
Dad, I had a drain sticking out of my head, and the surgeon had gone home for the
evening... we still didn't have any answers," said Katie. She had a severe brain bleed as
a result of the surgery. The drain was sutured into her head, and she was in ICU for
several days. She was eventually released and stayed with her parents while she was
recovering from the surgery. They still had no clear diagnosis or a plan of action. Katie
continued to have trouble walking, she felt her mental state was deteriorating... it was
a very dark time for her.
The biopsy was sent to Boston for another pathologist to read, because the hospital
did not agree with their own pathologist's conclusions. Katie found at later, that the
hospitals's pathologist was world-renowned in his field, and couldn't understand why
they would look for another opinion. It was supposed to take six weeks. After anxious
weeks of waiting, Katie's mom called the Boston hospital to get the results, only to find
out, that her biopsy had not been sent... a clerical error. Another six weeks went by.
Eventually, one Friday while attempting to set up an appointment, a receptionist let it
slip over the phone that Katie had an Astrocytoma brain tumor. Katie and her Mom
jumped on the computer and Googled it. Pilocytic Astrocytomas tumors develops
from certain star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes. Astrocytes and similar cells form
tissue that surrounds and protects other nerve cells found within the brain and spinal
cord. Most cases arise in the lower area of brain near the back of the neck that controls
movement and balance, the brainstem, the hypothalamic region or the optic nerve
pathways. The main form of treatment is surgical excision and removal of as much as
the tumor as possible. With cerebellar tumors, most cases can be completely removed
A golf ball sized tumor
was found inside Katie's
optic chiasm which
made it inoperable
September 11, 2011
What was once a huge
mass is now completely
gone thanks to groundbreaking treatment
she received at Duke
University
by surgery, which is generally considered curative. In Katie's case however, the tumor
was in her optic chiasm, making it impossible to be removed. This is where the optic
nerves cross, or surround the optic nerves. "I was hysterical," said Katie. "I went to
meet with an oncologist at the hospital. I'm sitting there in a wheel chair, my Mom is
with me and we're waiting for one hour.. then two... then three, when a nurse finally
comes in and tells us the doctor will not be able to make the appointment. Before we
made it out of the hospital, my cell phone rings. It's the doctor. 'I'm sorry we didn't
get to meet, but there is nothing we can do for you,' he said. 'You have six months to
a year to get your affairs in order.' I was stunned," said Katie. "I went home and made
my funeral plans. I believed him,"she said sadly.
They approached a few other local hospitals looking for alternative treatment options
with no luck. One day Katie's Mom was stopped at the end of their street, when she
noticed her neighbor, a nurse practitioner, standing in front of her home. Kathy
backed up only to share the devastating news about Katie. Her neighbor told her
to call Duke and speak with Dr. Henry Friedman, Deputy Director, The Preston
Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke. She did, and received a call back that very
evening. Kathy was immediately heartened by this doctor's interest in her daughter's
case. From Duke University, Dr. Henry Friedman is a renowned neuro-oncologist
leading the scientific community in the treatment of brain tumors. He asked Kathy
to send him all of Katie's medical records for him to review. Shortly thereafter, Katie
was invited to Duke University to see what they could do for her.
Kathy, Katie and Ron made the six and a half hour drive to rural North Carolina
for the two day visit of intense screening. "I cried all the way there... knowing this
was my absolute last chance," explained Katie. She was pleasantly surprised when
she found a medical staff full of caring compassionate people, who actually had a
plan of action for her recovery. "Everyone was just so positive and welcoming... after
my experience, their compassion meant so much to me," she smiled. "I met with a
team of professionals who were handling my case. You get to know everyone in your
team, and that never deviates. "My oncologist was Annick Desjardins, MD a French
Canadian. I asked her how long I had, and she looked at me quizzically and asked
me what I meant, and I asked her again. She smiled and said 'I don't know, I'm not
God. I could get hit by a car tomorrow. If I were you I would start planning for your
retirement.' I beamed... it was all I needed to hear," smiled Katie.
They sent her home with a plan for oral chemotherapy and took an additional
IV medication called Avastin as well. "I chose an oncologist at GBMC where
my husband works. Gary I. Cohen, MD - Director of the Sandra & Malcolm
Berman Cancer Institute at GBMC took over my local care," said Katie. Ron
March 2013
Dr Desjardins, Katie, Ron & Michelle. Michelle was Katie's
nurse, but as since left the brain tumor center and is working in
another cancer center at Duke.
would come visit her during his lunch breaks, and friends would come along to
keep her company. While she was at Duke they encouraged her to go back to
school. "I didn't want to go back. It felt like too much... but they insisted," said
Katie. Initially, the school was reluctant to let her back into the nursing program,
for fear that she wouldn't be able to handle it. Her mother, who has been her
biggest advocate during her illness, stepped up again and worked it out. Katie went
back to school, while continuing her chemo treatment. She took every day chemo
and biweekly infusions for almost 2 years. The treatment made her terribly ill,
but she took her medication at night, and continued to work and go to school.
She also had monthly visits to Duke for checks on her progress. During this time
her grandmother started to decline, and Katie and Ron, took her in for the last
few months of her life. "She passed away on the day of my graduation, and I was
supposed to be the guest speaker - my cat also died that day," she sniffled. "But
I went to graduation - my grandmother wouldn't have wanted me to miss it. I
almost felt like it was her way of being there," smiled Katie
"My original motivation for going into nursing was because it was a good career,
but when I became a patient... it changed my whole perception of what nursing
is all about, and what kind of nurse I wanted to be," said Katie. This was the focus
of her speech when she was the guest speaker for her original graduating class, and
again for her own graduating class. She was also a guest speaker at Duke University,
and regularly volunteers as an ambassador for their brain treatment center. Katie
was offered a nursing job at Harford Memorial after graduation, and is off all
chemotherapy and most of her medication. "If it hadn't been for my family looking
out for me, my husband standing by me, and the wonderful staff at Duke University
caring for me, I wouldn't have my whole life ahead of me," said Katie with a smile.
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3Harford STYLE Summer 20154