3-time breast cancer survivor from Daly City turns 39-year fight into mission to help others
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and CBS News Bay Area is highlighting a three-time breast cancer survivor who is now giving back to the community.
"I'm still thinking positive. I have survived 39 years of breast cancer, and I'm still here. I'm very thankful to God that I'm alive," Asuncion Balon, who lives in Daly City, told CBS News Bay Area.
"I felt a lump in my breast, and I went to the doctor. Actually, that lump was negative, but they found something else that was cancer," she said.
After treatment, she said nine years later, the cancer returned. And then, 20 years since her first diagnosis, she said she had breast cancer on the right side.
Balon's fight for good health is in part because of her lifelong career as a nurse, from 1971 until her retirement in 2012.
Balon has since been giving back to the American Cancer Society, as she said they have been tremendous in supporting in her own fight.
"I'm hoping that more people will get involved in all these activities, that the American Cancer Society has something to offer to everyone," she said.
Balon is a Rich to Recovery volunteer, where she helps raise awareness, connects with those with breast cancer, and also helps with fundraising for cancer research.
"One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. One in eight women is still too many women. And that's why making strides against breast cancer exists. To help lower that rate of diagnoses and provide a better life for those who have experienced breast cancer," Olivia Catanio, American Cancer Society's associate director of market events, told CBS News Bay Area.
She added that by holding annual stride walks is just one way for the community to come together.
"We have a lot of participation in October. But we know that this can't be just an October event. Awareness is more than that, it's year-round. And when we come together at making Strides Against Breast Cancer, it's often a reminder for folks to get screened. If you're at average risk of breast cancer, getting screened at 40 years old, might be right for you," she said.
And Balon hopes to share this message for those fighting their fight.
"Breast cancer is just a diagnosis. It is not a life sentence, and you will live through it if you think positive. Positive way of thinking helps you to survive," she said.
The American Cancer Society will be holding its annual walk at PayPal Park on Saturday. Registration is free and open. The event is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
