Thank you Leona Helmsley!

You are probably wondering what this post could possibly be about with a title like that, right? I'll start by reminding you of who Leona Helmsley is. Who could forget this picture....

This was her mug shot when she spent almost two years in jail for tax evasion. Seems the billionaire was quoted as saying "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes..."  Guess that makes me a little person! But some of you may recognize her more from this photo with her dog, whom she willed $12 million in a trust fund when she died in 2007!

I know, you're still wondering where I'm going with this history lesson....well it seems that after litigation, the money did not go to her dog afterall, but to create the The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. It turns out that one of her grandchildren has Type I diabetes, and that the trust has recently poured a lot of money in to TI research. That's where I come in....

Yesterday when I was at UW for my quarterly visit with my endocrinologist, he asked me if I wanted to become a part of the data repository for a grant that the foundation awarded. The grant is for the development of a type 1 diabetes exchange that includes a data repository, a biobank and an interactive website with mobile capability. The Exchange is designed to drive a better understanding of the disease, improve care and accelerate new therapies for type 1 diabetes through the promotion of collaborative research and data sharing.  So yesterday I answered some basic questions (my first time using an Ipad!), and gave them permission to follow my data from every doctor appointment.  And because my information is in their database, I may become part of other studies from it too.

For some reason I just get a kick out of the fact that all this is funded by money that was to go towards Leona Helmsley's Maltese. Thanks Trouble!