Jett Trunnell should be adapting to high school life at Oakdale High School, like most 14-year-olds in the 95361.

The Oakdale Junior High School graduate, however, spent his summer a little different than his classmates.

While his summer kicked off with a Disneyland trip with his family, the weeks which followed were anything like the rest of his fellow teens.

In July, Jett was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Osteosarcoma, a type of cancer that forms in cancerous tumors in the bones. According to Jett’s mom Tiffany, his is a 21 cm mass in the left hip.

Yet as if an aggressive cancer diagnosis isn’t enough for a family, Jett is currently battling and undergoing treatment in Texas, far from home.

First sharing his pain and discomfort with his mom while home here in Oakdale last spring, they visited a local family doctor who requested an X-ray. The family was told the X-ray showed no findings and physical therapy was prescribed.

Tiffany shared she requested an MRI be done to further explore, however the doctor consulted indicated Physical Therapy should be done before resorting to an MRI. The earliest MRI that could be scheduled was for late July. Their initial doctor visit was in April.

“He would be a freshman right now at Oakdale High School,” Tiffany said from her downtown Oakdale shop, Boutiques at Tiffany’s, days following the first day of the new school year for OJUSD.

Instead, Jett and his older sister MaKylie, 17 are doing homeschool remotely with Oakdale Charter, while staying in Texas.

According to mom, Jett and MaKylie left quickly from the family Disney trip for Texas where their father was relocating. Once in Texas, dad was able to get Jett to a doctor, as well as an MRI. A 21cm mass was detected, which they quickly ordered a biopsy for.

“They knew,” Tiffany stated of the Texas hospital doing things quickly.

She shared the Texas facility biopsied the mass, tested bone marrow and placed Jett’s port all in the same day. A PET Scan also detected suspicious activity in his lung.

With 1300 miles between her and her youngest child, Tiffany, along with her father Randy Blevins began making plans to travel to Texas.

Making a call to an airline for emergency tickets, she shared her father learned that would be a cost of $3100.

“So we just drove the 20 hours straight,” she said, “but you don’t know if something happens to Jett and there’s an emergency, you’re going to have to pay the high airfare.”

Since Jett was already in Texas, his father made the decision to start with chemotherapy. His first MAP chemotherapy was performed over the course of two days in a hospital in Amarillo, Texas.

Tiffany, along with her father and daughter Mackenzie were able to be there for the week leading up to the start of his treatment, as well as doctor’s appointments and test results.

But Jett’s journey will not be a short one. Once he has completed this initial chemotherapy cycle, he will have surgery and once recovered from surgery another cycle of chemotherapy. It’s a 29-week treatment plan in total.

“We’re trying to get other options,” Tiffany said of Jett’s treatment plan and the desire for a second opinion. “The surgery will be to remove his hip and part of his leg, maybe the whole leg. That’s what we were told at Children’s (Hospital) Houston. We want to have other options. We’d like to get him to St. Judes.”

The mother of four expressed her frustration at being so far from her son during this time, as well as wanting him to be at a premium cancer facility for his disease.

“I want him to be back here,” she stated, noting the main difference being dad was able to get the MRI there and everything just went quickly in Texas. “I just want to get him home to Oakdale.”

“But it’s tough,” she continued, “I have to think about what’s best for Jett. The hospital he’s at in Amarillo is not a Cancer Clinic.”

Trunnell has spoken with an Oncology team at Stanford Children’s Hospital and is currently trying to get a referral to St. Jude’s from the hospital where he’s being treated.

Yet while Tiffany has been busy caring for her son both in person and from afar, as well as running her business and advocating for her son, childhood friend Melissa DeSignori has been busy sounding the alarms via fundraising for the family.

“I woke up and saw my picture everywhere,” Tiffany shared of an initial GoFundMe started by her friend. “I was in Texas with Jett. Melissa had messaged me and talked to me about it a little bit and then I woke up and saw it everywhere.”

And as Tiffany and her family were busy tending to things in Texas, Melissa along with her 17-year-old daughter Mackenna helped hold down the fort at Tiffany’s Boutique, as well as design some swag via bracelets and stickers and a Facebook page launched, appropriately named Jett’s Journey.

“Melissa has done a lot,” Tiffany said of her friend. “Melissa’s amazing, actually. She takes care of the shop, she started these fundraisers, she watches my granddaughter. Her daughter designed the stickers.”

Melissa also nominated Tiffany for the next Helping One Woman (HOW), Oakdale Chapter Dinner, to be hosted Aug. 20, 2025 at Oakdale Event Center. While the monthly event benefitting local and surrounding area women in need is sold out, gift baskets and donations are still being accepted through Aug. 18.

“I knew it was to help women, but I thought it was for a catastrophic event,” Tiffany shared, of learning she was the August HOW Dinner Nominee. “Which I mean it is, it’s my kid, but it feels different.”

Getting emotional as she speaks of her son, as well as the community generosity, Tiffany noted she feels more comfortable being the one to donate versus being on the other side of it.

“So, when I see my face on there (the flyers), it’s like wow that’s me,” she said. “Like it becomes real. At first, it’s like you were hit by a wall. It’s foggy and then it becomes reality. It’s just nice knowing there are people out there willing to help us.”

Tiffany shared the funds being raised are extremely helpful, as the family continues its travels between Oakdale and Texas while Jett is undergoing treatment away from home.

“There’s just a lot of people that want to help,” she said. “So even if they can’t get a seat to the dinner and they just want to help they can donate something for Jett or to the event.”

She described her only son as a gamer who loves PS Games and collects old money. Community members interested in purchasing things for Jett personally are encouraged to buy PS Games, gift cards or old money to add to his collection.

“He loves buying old money,” she shared, choking back tears as she speaks of her son. “He’s an old soul. Jett loves PS games or money to buy games. That’s what he likes. Or two-dollar bills, or old money. He’d probably be more excited about the old money than gift cards to be honest.”

When posed with the question of her feelings overall as she navigates this current chapter, Tiffany’s feelings are relatable to anyone who has a child.

“The other hard part of all this, is that he’s not here,” she stated. “It’s just hard. It’s just really hard, especially because it’s a child. This is the longest I’ve ever been away from him.”

There are a variety of ways in which the community can help the Trunnell family through this difficult time. Gift baskets for the dinner, as well as gifts for Jett may be dropped by Boutiques at Tiffany’s, 122 N. Third Ave., Oakdale. Financial donations may be dropped off at the shop or made via the GoFundMe account under Tiffany Trunnell or the link can be found on the Facebook Page “Jett’s Journey with Osteosarcoma.”