‘We’ve felt enormous love’: Cancer conquered, Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier grateful for her family and friends, her team and a future with long hair

Lisa Fortier didn’t know it at the time, but there were signs something was wrong.

Normally healthy, the Gonzaga women’s basketball coach was bouncing from colds to coughs to flu in the first couple of months of the 2023-24 season.

Then, during a self-exam of her body in late January, Fortier noticed a lump she hadn’t felt before.

“I didn’t think it was there before,” she said. “Then I waited and thought maybe it’s nothing.”

Fortier asked a doctor at Gonzaga for her opinion.

The doctor didn’t think it was anything, but a few days later she recommended that Fortier see her personal doctor.

That doctor also thought it was nothing after the initial exam. But a biopsy was ordered and it confirmed on Feb. 6 that she had invasive ductal carcinoma, a common type of breast cancer. A spot was found in lymph nodes and two spots in her left breast.

Now the cancer is gone as Fortier begins her 11th season as Gonzaga’s head coach. She sat down and talked about the journey that she was “shocked” to find herself in nine months ago.

Early stages

Coincidentally, the Zags had their annual Pink Game, designed to bring awareness to cancer and treatment, four days after Fortier received the diagnosis.

“In retrospect, I was pretty sick last year,” Fortier, 43, said. “I never get sick. Some people say my body was fighting something else, like you were susceptible to some of those things. I’m not a person with an unhealthy lifestyle. I run, play basketball, play pickleball.”

Fortier continued to play pickleball through treatment, too, except for an eight-week break because she couldn’t use her arms immediately following surgery.

As soon as she could resume playing pickleball, she did. Her husband Craig, who has assisted Fortier every season since she became the head coach, avoids playing her.

“She’s a better player than me,” he said. “There are already enough things in life where she embarrasses me.”

The Fortiers initially shared the diagnosis with just a handful of people – the assistant coaches and Gonzaga administration. They didn’t tell the team until the week break between the final regular-season game and the West Coast Conference Tournament.

“We wanted to wait until we knew exactly what we were looking at,” Lisa Fortier said.

They shared the news with their three children – sons Marcus and Calvin, and daughter Quincy – just before they told the team.

“We didn’t want our family and the team to hear it from anybody else,” Fortier said. “My team is also my family. They care a lot about me and I care about them.”

Fortier decided to publicly share the news about the cancer. The school posted a three-minute video on X on Sept. 10, two weeks before preseason practices began.

“I felt like I was keeping a big secret,” she said. “The video was more about, ‘Let’s get ahead of this and let’s just tell people what it is and let everyone know that we’re doing OK.’ ”

She had the first of 25 radiation treatments on Labor Day, concluding Oct. 7. Two days after the final treatment, the team surprised its coach with a celebration that included decorated cookies and balloons. Coach and players were emotional in a video posted on social media.

Although there was significant support early in the process, the outpouring blossomed when she went public. Fortier stopped short of naming specific people, other than her husband and coaching staff, out of fear of leaving somebody out.

Game plan

There was talk that Fortier should start chemotherapy immediately. Others wanted her to wait until after surgery.

The surgery was scheduled in mid-April. Fortier was put on hormone depressors as the first step in preparation for surgery.

“It wasn’t a fastly spreading cancer, so they were good with not doing surgery until April,” Fortier said. “By the time all the testing was done, it was almost April. They test everywhere (including the bones) to make sure you don’t have it anywhere else.”

Fortier had her regular mammogram in late spring 2023.

“They thought it was possible the cancer was there, but they just couldn’t see it,” she said.

Her cancer was diagnosed as Stage 2-3.

“It was Stage 2-3 because they only found cancer in one lymph node,” Fortier said. “They found more disease in the breast than they expected when they went in for surgery.”

Fortier has a double mastectomy .

Looking back, Craig Fortier said it shook him initially when the cancer was discovered.

“I was trying to figure out what she was processing and how to support her and what I needed to do. Separating those things was difficult at first,” he said.

“I’m extremely proud and continue to be amazed by her. I can’t say that I’m surprised, based on how she’s been her whole life and her character. But when it’s happening you get reminded and it’s amazing to watch in real time.”

Treatments, transfers, Paris

The postsurgery recovery included five rounds of therapy, one every three weeks. That was followed by 25 radiation treatments.

Just as Fortier was facing surgery, the Zags were sorting through the transfer portal, trying to find players to fill a roster hit with the loss of four graduate starters.

Much of that work and spring team workouts fell to her assistants, including Craig.

Lisa Fortier worked from home, often calling recruits and having them to her home for visits. The Zags lost out on two recruits they coveted, but ended up signing four.

Between chemo treatments, the Fortiers flew to Paris for six days to watch fifth-year forward Yvonne Ejim play for Canada in the Olympics.

Fortier’s players insisted that she take care of herself first. She obliged.

She said it was challenging to pull back because it’s just not in a coach’s nature to let go of the reins.

She praises her husband for being a rock for her the past nine months.

“It’s all been a struggle, but he’s been awesome when it comes to all the caretaking, driving to appointments, whatever,” Fortier said. “All of my coaches had to take on a heavier load. Craig’s been remarkable.

“He hasn’t been perfect. I’m an open person and he’s pretty private. He’s dealing with it himself, and he doesn’t want to talk to everybody about it, but he knows that it feels good for me to talk to people. So he’s trying to balance those things.”

Many friends and former players have reached out. A meal train was formed and the Fortiers were receiving meals well after the final radiation treatments.

Fortier said she’s received numerous cards, notes, texts, emails, calls expressing love and prayers, and it was so helpful during the journey. Ten to 15 former players sent Fortier a blanket and a pink basketball that they it signed and included encouraging notes.

“It was very sweet … emotional,” Fortier said, pausing to hold back tears.

“People have been praying for us,” Fortier said. “Brynna’s mom (Brynna Maxwell) sent me a wonderful devotional. We’ve felt enormous love. It’s come from everywhere – Fewy (men’s coach Mark Few), Billy Grier (former men’s assistant) was here and Ray Giacoletti (another former men’s assistant). Just a lot of support.”

From more people than she could list.

Family and faith

Being homebound during part of the treatment allowed her to spend extra time with her children. Fortier said she and her oldest son, Marcus, a freshman at Mead High School, grew closer.

“The other two are closer with mom because they’re littler,” she said. “Marcus has been one of my favorite people to be around through this. He’s funny, and it’s helped him to be a little more compassionate. The two of us have gotten a lot closer throughout the process.”

Fortier’s faith sustained her during the difficult moments.

“I’ve had a couple (worship) songs on repeat,” she said. “There were some really hard days. My first round of chemo I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do this.’ I just leaned into God, honestly. I had a peace – that I’m going to get through this, I’m not alone in this. I’ve gotten strength from the support around us.”

Strange as it may sound, Fortier is grateful for the timing of the cancer.

“If I had gotten a diagnosis in November or December, I don’t know what I would have done,” she said. “That’s been a blessing.”

Searching for purpose

Fortier said there’s a purpose in everything that’s happened.

“I don’t know what it is, but something will come out of it,” she said. “I feel fortunate. A lot of people have it a lot worse. I’ve been supported well and able to tolerate everything fairly well considering.”

Her players have marveled at how well their coach handled the journey.

“She was inspirational before it happened and she’s still inspirational now,” Ejim said. “It’s amazing to see her presence and her character through it. That hasn’t diminished just because she was dealing with breast cancer. She’s still coach Lisa and puts her best foot forward every single day.”

“She’s such a strong woman,” senior forward Maud Huijbens said. “Our first reaction was, ‘Take care of you.’ To us, she seems like her normal self. It’s insane what she’s been able to do and you can only have respect for that.”

The treatments are over, but Lisa Fortier isn’t done with her journey. It takes six months to a year to recover from the treatments, and she’ll have breast reconstruction in a year.

“I have another big surgery down the road,” she said. “I’ll be on medication and go in monthly for an injection and scans. But in theory, I’ll be done with the active heavy part of the treatment hopefully forever.”

Tired, but ready to go

Fortier said she’s had the usual fatigue that comes during preseason preparation. She doesn’t know if it’s necessarily because of treatments or the usual grind.

She said she thought about taking a year off from coaching.

“Yes, I thought about it, but just briefly,” Fortier said. “My consultant – a coach-the-coach guy – thought I should take a year off. I think if I had to have had heavy treatments during the season I would have taken some time off. But I also feel an obligation to Yvonne, Maud, Esther (Little) and Bree (Salenbien). It’s more than a job.”

Fortier was reminded of something a former Gonzaga men’s basketball assistant, Roger Powell Jr., now the head coach at Valparaiso, said to her regarding being a coach.

“He said, ‘Do your reasonable best’ – that’s something that has always stuck in my mind. That’s helped me to stress less,” she said. “This is a calling for us. We need to do it in a way that allows us to coach for a long time.

“I’m told that I’m cancer free now. I believe that there is a mission in what I’ve gone through.”

Fortier looks forward to her hair hanging past her shoulders again.

“I’m going to have some bad hairdos during the season,” Fortier said.

The battle Fortier didn’t sign up for is largely over – at least the most arduous part. And for that, Fortier is grateful.