Community rallies around Auburn couple fighting cancer

Dec. 15--AUBURN -- Auburn boys and girls basketball programs are among the community of people helping a young Auburn couple fighting a rare cancer.

More than $8,000 was raised last week for Jennafer and Konner Dudley during a "Show the Love Game," a home boys Auburn High School basketball game against Athens.

Jennafer Dudley, 26, was diagnosed in October with placental site trophoblastic tumor, a rare malignancy that develops from the cells that grow to form the placenta.

Jennafer and Konner, 25, have a 2-year-old daughter, Annabelle.

Money for the Dudleys was raised at the basketball game on Tuesday through donations and bids on silent-auction baskets put together by parents and community members.

"We've got an awesome hometown that is looking out for us," said Jennafer, who is also known as "Jenn," and is a 2010 graduate of Auburn High School.

Konner said the basketball fundraising event "was huge."

"That took a lot of stress off. We tallied up some bills, and it came out to be about that much. That was a big win for us," said Konner, a 2011 graduate of Auburn High.

A rare tumor

A placental site trophoblastic tumor is a rare form of gestational trophoblastic disease, a group of rare tumors that involve abnormal growth of cells inside a woman's uterus, according to the American Cancer Society. The tumor develops where the placenta attaches to the lining of the uterus.

The Dudleys suffered an early miscarriage in July.

"Then my normal blood levels -- whenever you're pregnant, they're usually elevated -- they weren't going back down normal like they're supposed to after a few weeks," Jenn said. "It was just week after week going back into the doctor's office and my doctor doing blood tests and taking biopsies and doing testing that she finally was able to send off some of that pathology and come to the conclusion that it was in fact a tumor that I had in my uterus."

Jenn and Konner said that obstetrics and gynecology specialist Dr. Jillian Henry deserves "an insane amount of credit" for persevering in Jenn's case.

"She didn't give up. She was bound and determined to figure out, and she did, what exactly what was going on with me -- why my numbers weren't going down. It's a good thing she did, because it might not have been caught," Jenn said.

"There are many couples who try to get pregnant, and it doesn't work, they have a miscarriage, and you move on from that, and you keep trying, but it just was crazy with us when they told us, 'Well, you have a miscarriage, and now you have cancer.'"

Emergency surgery

The Dudleys received the diagnosis in early October. The definitive treatment for placental site trophoblastic tumor is surgery. Jenn had surgery at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, where some of the only specialists on that kind of cancer practice. She's now undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

At the beginning of her medical journey, Jenn didn't have insurance from July to September because her insurance through her parents had just ended. Now the Dudleys have medical insurance through Konner's new employer, Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, an engineering consulting firm. Jenn works for Ben Ladage Auctions, Auburn.

"I work a little bit from home as needed. My boss is super flexible, and he lets me do stuff from home, so I do a little bit from home now," Jenn said.

Jenn also helps with Redbud Coffee Co., which is owned by Konner, his two brothers and Konner's father. Established at the end of 2016, Redbud Coffee has a mobile truck with a full roastery that is also a full-service coffee shop. Redbud Coffee donates $1 for every bag of coffee sold to the Aruna Project, which helps victims of human trafficking.

'Praying is huge'

Wanting to help the Dudleys and impressed by their giving spirit, Kevin O'Rourke, sixth grade social studies teacher and boys assistant varsity basketball coach at Auburn, organized a Jenn and Konner Dudley Tumbler Fundraiser through a Custom Ink Fundraising Campaign.

O'Rourke's students created a 19-ounce, acrylic tumbler with a design they thought "everyone could support and appreciate." It was a black tumbler with blue lettering "One Team" that featured an image of the world on it. Selling of the tumblers raised $1,010 for the Dudleys.

"This year, when members of the community came across a tough time, my students and I just wanted to do our part," said O'Rourke, who added he always tries to incorporate community service aspects into his social studies curriculum.

"During my social studies classes, we talked about community service and being a part of something bigger than yourself. Students in all of my social studies classes kept coming to the conclusion that it was very similar to being a part of a team.

"We then discussed how a couple of members of our community that several of them knew through (Mark Dudley the principal at Auburn Junior High School), older siblings or other connections in a small town were going through a very difficult time, and since we are a team, teammates should be there for each other when needed."

People have been helping the Dudleys in various ways. The girls basketball programs have been selling Redbud Coffee shirts. A GoFundMe account that has since closed raised $13,780 of its $10,000 goal.

The Dudleys said they have been blessed.

"We're Christians, so we believe in the power of prayer. We just have seen God's provisions through this throughout. Definitely, we could not be doing this without his guidance," Jenn said.

Konner said they've seen "not a small army of people praying."

"Even just people praying is huge," Jenn said.

The Dudleys hope to help others in the future like they've been helped.

"Our friends and our family and our community have been so supportive," Jenn said.

"Definitely, when you're fighting cancer, everybody's support around you is so powerful to just help bring you through it because it's rough and it's not nice. Just makes it a little easier when you see how much you're cared for by the people around you. We're just very thankful for our community."

Contact Tamara Browning: tamara.browning@sj-r.com, 788-1534, twitter.com/tambrowningSJR.

WANT TO HELP?

People can send notes of encouragement to Jennafer Dudley as well as donate by visiting www.jennaferdudley.com.

___

(c)2018 The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Ill.

Visit The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Ill. at www.sj-r.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.