Heather Walker finds her purpose in cancer fight

Jun. 2—MARBLEHEAD — Stephen Walker looks across the outdoor patio table at his wife, Heather, in their bucolic backyard. In his eyes there are equal parts love, admiration, concern and empathy.

Heather Walker — Manchester born and raised, now a Marblehead resident for almost 20 years, mother of two young daughters, Vice President of Public Relations for the Boston Celtics — has brain cancer. Glioblastoma, to be exact, a rare and aggressive form of the disease.

Since being diagnosed 10 months ago and having surgery, radiation treatments, chemotherapy and now taking NeoVax as part of her third trial in her fight against her sickness, the 51-year-old Walker has made it her mission not only to beat her own cancer, but help end it for all glioblastoma patients.

"I wouldn't change what I'm going through for the world, honestly," she said. "I don't feel sorry for myself. I just want to push forward and find a cure for this cancer with Dr. (Omar) Arnott at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dr. (David) Reardon at Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

"I really believe that we're going to cure cancer with this."

"I always knew she was strong," added her husband, the second-youngest of seven brothers and a former member of the Coast Guard, "but not this strong."

Walker refuses to let this awful set of circumstances control her, however. With a positive attitude and proactive approach, she says "I have a purpose more than I've ever had" and is staunch in her beliefs.

Her outlook and confidence has rubbed off on virtually everyone who knows her — her family and friends in Manchester, Marblehead, and beyond; her doctors; and the many, many folks she's friends with across the National Basketball Association — and many others whom she's met during this odyssey.

"Heather has demonstrated remarkable resiliency and tenacity during her fight," said Reardon, the clinical director at Dana Farber's Center for Neuro-Oncology. "Her commitment to help others while enduring her own very challenging battle is inspirational."

She's been buoyed by the unending support of her best friend, Wendy Semonian Eppich. Having lost a sister to cancer and gotten involved in Dana Farber, Eppich has been there for Walker every step of the way and then some despite living an hour away in Shelburne.

"The trial she's in, if it can save her life, Heather will in turn save hundreds of other lives," said Eppich.

"Wendy's an incredible person," said Walker. "Losing her sister, that's what motivates her to help me in my fight."

Early days

The former Heather Michalowski grew up on Harold Street in Manchester with her brothers, Roger and Ryan. She always loved being active: running around her neighborhood, playing basketball with her siblings and her father, being out on boats, doing anything to stay busy. She ran cross country and played varsity basketball at the high school and lifeguarded for eight years at Singing Beach.

Walker, who went on to play college basketball at the former North Adams State, said to this day she remains an excellent free throw shooter. She recounted a time in the late 2000s at a Celtics practice in Waltham when the team was snowed in and, to pass the time, she had a free throw contest with the team's shooting guard, Tony Allen ... and beat him.

But leukemia claimed the life of her beloved father when she was just 17. Her mother, Barbara, has been in remission from breast cancer the last eight years. and when she was young, one of Walker's friends lost a sister to glioblastoma.

"Ever since my dad died, I thought 'I'm going to get (glioblastoma)'. It was always in the back of my mind because it was so awful that you'd never want it," she said. "It was probably an irrational fear, but the weird thing is I' here and dealing with what I thought was the most horrific disease in the world."

What she thought was a headache brought on by everyday anxieties in a COVID-19 world turned out to be much worse. Diagnosed with brain cancer after a CAT scan revealed a mass there, she had surgery to remove it last July 10 by Dr. Arnott at Brigham and Women's.

"He got all of it, which I'm so thankful for," she said.

First in ICU after her surgery and then in recovery, it began to hit her: the five rounds of chemo, radiation, the fact that it might not work, and Walker knew she had to do something. So she took our her phone and shared what had happened on social media. In her large circle of friends and business colleagues and associates, it soon went viral.

"I was so upset thinking about it; how could one family have three different people go through cancer like this?," she said.

"I asked my doctors, 'What do you need from me?' and they said I had to relax. But that's not how I roll. Right away I was like, 'Let's cure this.'

Roger Michalowski took the Walkers' daughters, 13-year-old Sammy and 10-year-old Taylor, to the family home in Maine while his sister was dealing with the surgery and recovery. He did so to help ease the girls' minds — while at the same time his own was with his sibling and her husband.

"It was horrific, really chaotic at the beginning," said Roger, whose son Craig was a captain of the Marblehead High football team that went unbeaten last fall and won the school its first Super Bowl championship. "But where my dad never told anyone when he was diagnosed, Heather was reaching out and being visible, getting her story out there.

"A lot of people go through life and don't' have a purpose or just muddle through," Roger added. "But Heather's found her purpose."

'My saving grace'

Walker says of the the NeoVax trial and immunotherapy program she's on, "that's going to be my saving grace." She gets Keytruda, which fights cancer cells by working with her immune system, when she and Stephen go to Dana Farber to get blood drawn every two weeks, and also takes Keppra so that she doesn't get seizures.

She gets chaga mushrooms — which grow only in cold climates such as Alaska, Maine and New Hampshire — and grinds them up in her smoothies with spinach, almond milk and pineapple or berries. Lion's mane mushrooms are also in the mix. She does acupuncture, has met with a world renowned healer in Haverhill who specializes in cancer patients, listens to the Calm app every night, and takes melatonin when she has trouble sleeping.

Because she can't get back to running yet, she's on her Peloton every day, releasing some much needed endorphins and feeling a huge sense of accomplishment. She makes it her mission to stay active and, in her own words, "do something that moves you every day". Thus, the 'Move4Heather' movement — #m4h — was born. People were encouraged to do anything to be active, tell a few friends about it and encourage them to do the same, and donate to the Heather Walker Fund for Glioblastoma Research at Dana Farber.

To date, an amazing $600,000 has been raised for Dr. Reardon's research. That includes a sizeable chunk donated by the Celtics' Shamrock Foundation.

Now she's shifting her focus to help raise funds and exposure for Dr. Arnott to help combat glioblastoma. It will start with the Boston Athletic Association's 10K for Brigham and Women's on the last Sunday of the month; from there, it'll be on to another fundraising adventure, said Walker.

"We'll keep going until it's cured," she said.

Many of the Celtics family — from ownership and Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge to current and former players such as Paul Pierce and even Shaquille O'Neal — sent Walker good wishes during a birthday video sent to her last July. Then this past March, she was honored by the Green with one of the charity enterprises she's helped run for the last 16 years, being chosen as one of the Celtics' 'Heroes Among Us' that are honored during home games. Hers just happened to come during Celtic legend Kevin Garnett's jersey retirement day.

"It was so good to see so many of those players I hadn't seen for so long. It felt so good after two years (of Covid-19) just to be able to get a hug and reconnect," she said, tearing up at the happy memory. "The Celtics' ownership has been absolutely amazing to me: Steve Pagliuca, Wyc Grousbeck, (team president) Rich Gotham, Bob Epstein ... I can't thank them enough."

Although it won't be in a working capacity just yet, Walker does have two tickets to each of the Celtics' home games against the Golden State Warriors in the upcoming NBA Finals, which begin tonight.

"Am I going to be there? You bet!" she said emphatically.

"Glioblastoma is the most awful, painful, mental, physical game. It's so cruel to the people who have it,' said Walker. "But glio people are also so strong. We're going to get through it and cure it. It's going to happen sooner rather than later. You just watch."

To visit Heather's fundraising page, go to https://danafarber.jimmyfund.org/site/TR;jsessionid=00000000.app20023a?fr_id=1600&pg=team&team_id=9903&NONCE_TOKEN=0D7895FCF97E78E615563F50915DC40A

Phil Stacey may be contacted at pstacey@gloucestertimes. Follow him on Twitter @PhilStacey_SN

Phil Stacey may be contacted at pstacey@gloucestertimes. Follow him on Twitter @PhilStacey_SN