Fundraiser for Dundee teacher battling breast cancer planned Tuesday

MAYBEE – This week, friends, family and well-wishers will gather to support a Dundee Elementary School first grade teacher who is battling breast cancer.

Jenny Dolezal’s family and friends are hosting a spaghetti dinner fundraiser from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7, at The Little Brown Jug, 7697 Bluebush Road in Maybee. Spaghetti dinners, dine-in or carryout, are $15.99 per plate. A 50/50 raffle and basket raffle will be held. Information can be found on The Little Brown Jug’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/maybeefinest.

All proceeds from the event will be donated to Dolezal and her family to help with medical bills and other expenses.

In July 2022, Dolezal was breastfeeding her son, James, when she noticed a lump in her left breast. She thought it was possibly a clogged milk duct which often feels like a lump or knot in the breast. Dolezal quickly notified her physician and made arrangements for diagnostic testing. She had a mammogram, ultrasound and lump biopsy. The results came back negative, no evidence of cancer or precancerous cells.

“In October, I noticed the lump was getting bigger and becoming more painful so I contacted my doctor’s office and I voiced my concerns. I told them I didn’t think it was benign anymore,” she said.

They told her it was possibly a cyst that wasn’t draining properly and she made an appointment to see her doctor on Dec.23 and had a second biopsy. Four days later, the call came. Dolezal had breast cancer – invasive ductal carcinoma.

“It was very blind-siding,” she said. “At the time, I was thinking there’s no family history. I’m breast feeding. I’m only 31 years old. It was a total shock.”

Dolezal said she is healthy overall and made sure to do self breast exams. She wasn’t aware of any family history of breast cancer before the diagnosis, but later discovered her paternal grandmother also had breast cancer.

Because of how quickly Dolezal’s cancer was progressing, her medical team developed a treatment plan. On Jan. 11, she started her chemotherapy treatments at the University of Michigan hospital in Ann Arbor.

“Right now, I’m on a protocol that is one treatment every two weeks. So it’s four treatments total over the course of eight weeks. I’ve had two so far, so I’m half way through,” she said. “From there, I’ll meet with my surgeon and the medical oncologist to decide if we continue chemo treatment or if surgery is going to happen.”

Administered through a port surgically inserted near her collarbone, Dolezal receives a chemo infusion where the medication is delivered to the bloodstream intravenously. Following her treatments, she’s experienced both fatigue and nausea. When her husband, Doug, is working, Dolezal’s mom, Rita Frederick of Maybee, will come to help take care of baby James.

“It hasn’t been anything terrible. I feel I’ve lucked out with all the side effects they said I could get,” she said.

On the recommendation of her oncologist, Dolezal is off on medical leave for the remainder of the school year and is using the sick days she has accumulated. Her cousin, Rose Savage, and friend, Corrine Labardee, have set up a GoFundMe account, www.gofundme.com/f/jenny-dolezals-fight-against-cancer, to help Dolezal and her family with medical bills and expenses. The account includes written posts from Jenny about her journey.

“I know I don't have enough sick time built up to get me through without losing pay. I have over nine weeks, but I'm not sure what will happen after that. I know my union has a ‘sick bank’ that staff can donate some of their days to, so that's an option that we’re looking into once my days are depleted,” Jenny wrote. "…So, even though it absolutely breaks my heart, I won’t be returning to school this year. I didn't get to say goodbye to my students, and that crushes me. I have the sweetest class, and I'm going to miss them so much. I'm going to miss my co-workers. Some of my best friends. But I have to put myself first so that I can beat this monster and come back even stronger.”

As Dolezal undergoes treatment, her family and friends are making sure she knows there is a support team cheering her on.

Emily Thompson, a literacy coach at Dundee Elementary, had students paint rocks to be placed at Dolezal’s Maybee home. The brightly colored stones will be a reminder for Dolezal that she is loved and being prayed for.

Other teachers at the school have put together themed baskets to raffle off at Tuesday’s spaghetti dinner fundraiser.

Jeth Ott, owner of The Little Brown Jug in Maybee is hosting the event and is excited to do so. Ott is Dolezal’s former boss and close friend.

“Jenny is like family. I’ve known her since she was 14 years old. She is a special person who deeply cares for our community,” Jeth Ott said.

In 2020, when the pandemic hit and restaurants, like Ott’s, were having difficulty finding sanitizer and sanitizing wipes, Dolezal, whose school had closed due to state executive orders, called Ott and donated supplies she had purchased for her classroom to his restaurant.

Later that year, Dolezal’s selfless act inspired Ott and John Allen of Allen Chevrolet Cadillac in Monroe to start a “Save Our Classrooms” campaign to collect and deliver personal protective equipment to donate to community classrooms when schools reopened.

When Ott found out about Dolezal’s diagnosis, he reached out and asked about holding a fundraiser.

“When this came out, it broke our hearts. We love her like family,” Ott said. “I’m blessed with a restaurant and it’s not just about feeding folks and making a buck. It’s about taking care of the community and people like Jenny. This is what we do and I am blessed to be able to help.”

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Fundraiser for Dundee teacher battling breast cancer planned Feb. 7