Physical activity has always been important to Ali Spain.

For many years, the long-time Redmond resident had been a distance runner and even participated in marathons.

But this changed in summer 2013.

She was on the phone and had one hand under her arm. Spain felt a lump in her armpit about the size of a grape. She made note of it but did not think much about it for a few months. By the end of the summer, the lump became the size of a walnut so she went to get it checked.

Spain initially visited UW Neighborhood Woodinville Clinic, where she was referred to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA). In September 2013, she was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer — a type of cancer that is not hormone based and as a result, typically more aggressive.

“It hit me like a rock, out of the blue,” Spain said about the diagnosis.

She added that because her cancer affected an organ that she does not need to function, she felt fine so there were no indications that anything was wrong.

As someone who stayed active on a regular basis, she thought she was healthy for her age, which was 47-48 at the time. Spain is now 50 years old. In addition, she said she did not have any family history of cancer.

For treatment, Spain underwent five months of chemotherapy — which she likened to having the flu — had a mastectomy on her right side and spent six weeks in the summer of 2014 doing daily radiation. Throughout her treatments, Spain was also part of a clinical trial with SCCA, tried naturopathic treatments and made sure to eat well. And while she wasn’t exactly running marathons anymore, Spain said she would also walk every day.

“It consumed a whole year of my life,” she said about her treatments.

In addition to the treatments, Spain also had reconstructive surgery on her right breast in the spring of 2015.

Despite the seriousness of battling cancer, Spain’s experience also allowed her to see the silver lining.

One of the first lessons she learned came when she lost her hair from the chemotherapy. Spain said it was actually liberating to do so and not have to care how her hair looked each day. She said it was actually worse to lose her eyelashes and eyebrows because that really made her look sick.

To help her keep a positive outlook on things, Spain started a Facebook page called Laughing with Cancer.

She said she didn’t like people looking at her and feeling sorry for her because she had cancer.

The Facebook page was created to highlight the lighter side of her experience and some of the funny things she went through at the time such as trying acupuncture and trying to figure out what type of expression she wanted to draw in marker for eyebrows.

Spain admitted that she even used her cancer to get what she wanted.

She said following the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl win at the end of the 2013-14 season, she went to the parade in Seattle. A man standing nearby was smoking and despite others in the vicinity coughing and grumbling about the smoke, he did not put out the cigarette. So Spain said she went up to the man, took off her stocking cap to reveal her bald head and told him that she had cancer and asked him if he could put out the cigarette.

It worked.

“I did use it to my advantage,” she admitted with a laugh.

Spain said she received a lot of support from her family and friends while she was going through treatments.

“My husband was fantastic,” she said,adding that the cancer helped solidify her marriage.

She also made sure to include and involve their daughter throughout the process, such as having her daughter shave her head.

Despite all of the support, Spain said there were times when it all became too much. She said when others learned she had cancer, they would want to visit, bring food and help.

But for Spain, this could be exhausting so she had to figure out how to manage all of that and decide whether she needed what people were offering or if it was something they needed. And she had to figure out how to do this all without being rude or coming off as ungrateful.

It’s been almost two years since Spain completed her treatments, which were successful. Just as before her diagnosis, she continues to stay active and runs, although now it’s more for fitness. She’s no longer doing long distances.

“It’s all about balance for me,” she said.