Never give up!

I am a cancer survivor and keep making headway with the limitations I had endured through my year-long battle against the disease. I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma - bone cancer - in March 1997 when I was 25, and began my treatments within two weeks at University of California, San Francisco. The cancer was coming off of my humerus bone and had spread into my chest. I have been clear since 1998 with yearly checkups. The treatments started with three months of week-long chemotherapy infusions and then surgery. The doctor almost amputated my right arm due to the cancer having spread to my upper arm and past my shoulder toward my chest. Instead he decided to remove my humerus bone and replaced it with a titanium rod as well as putting someone else's humerus bone around the titanium.

He also removed my rotator cuff, shoulder joint, all my ligaments and cut 6 inches of my radial nerve and fused the two ends back together. I have very limited movement in my arm. From my elbow down I am numb. The cancer was only 50 percent dead after the first three rounds of treatment and the doctors like to see the cancer at least 95 percent dead. This lengthened my treatments and after six weeks of having my arm immobilized I had to start seven weeks of high-dose radiation. I went through four more months of chemotherapy staying in the hospital for a week at a time with a continuous drip of chemo and one hour of anti-nausea drugs.

We were told that with the extreme protocol that I had a 50-50 chance on having children. My oncologist had gone to my mom and told her that they believed there was no way for me to conceive. Of course that was not told to me until after I was pregnant with my son Dylan, 2-1/2 years later.

I was also told to not get a job for at least a year and to only work part time because with everything I had been through I would tire easy for the rest of my life. I lasted about nine months unemployed. I had just married and was ready to start making a life with my husband, Todd.

I majored in restaurant management from California State University, Chico, but knew I couldn't get back into the field due to the hours, not being able to help carry anything heavy and the environment. I found a job at a bank and knew this was not my future.

The following summer I was told that Norwest Mortgage was looking for new loan officers and that I might really like the work. I met with the manager and liked what I heard and decided to give it a shot. At that time the merge with Wells Fargo was taking place and then it became Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and I was able to sit in the bank in Gardnerville. I really took to this field of work and gave all I had to make the job work for me.

I became pregnant almost a year after starting with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and surprised my family and the doctors with being able to go to term and having no difficulties. My son, born in February 2001, is healthy and full of life. When I went in for my sixth month check up with my oncologist at seven months pregnant I thought he was going to cry. My oncologist was far from emotional during my year-long illness. I couldn't believe the effect my pregnancy had on him. When he saw me he kept saying, "We killed you, we killed you and you shouldn't have been able to have children." I did go on to have our daughter Brooke at the end of 2003 and I just keep thinking how lucky I am to have two beautiful and healthy miracle babies.

After 5-1/2 years of working for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage I finally decided it was time to give the mortgage industry a try on my own. I opened my doors to Carson Valley Mortgage on June 1, 2005. I couldn't believe I had taken such a huge leap. Coming into my second year of being self-employed has been an amazing experience and one I am very proud of.

Editor's note: Steffani McCullough, 35, was diagnosed with cancer 10 years ago. As a cancer survivor, McCullough has written an account of how she and her family lived with the diagnosis. McCullough is a wife, mother of two and businesswoman. She is the owner of Carson Valley Mortgage in Minden and invites other cancer survivors or anyone with questions to call her at 783-9700. Part 2 will run in next Wednesday's Record-Courier.