January 8, 1999

Instead of exchanging Christmas gifts this year, the Shaw family decided to pool their holiday giving spirit and donate the money they would normally spend on presents to the MGH Brain Tumor Center. The reason for their change of tradition is that family member Kelly Shaw is a patient at the center.

"It really gave us all a good feeling to give the money that we would normally spend on each other to help brain tumor research at the MGH," says Susan Shaw Dimaio, Kelly's sister. "The greatest gift of all would be for a cure to be found."

After completing 14 months of treatment, Shaw is doing well and says she hopes that the tumor diagnosed in December 1997 will continue to shrink.

"Kelly is such an upbeat, cheerful person," says John Henson, MD, executive director of the MGH Brain Tumor Center and Shaw's neuro-oncologist. "I sometimes see her in our waiting room, encouraging other patients. She is such a positive influence on others despite what she has gone through."