I'm not big on bucket lists but I'm about to cross something off the list that's been there since I was about 8 years old... eat haggis! It's Burns' Supper tonight and the owner of the expat bar is Scottish and invited me. It will be nice to do something fun after 5 straight days of horror and worrying.

I'm also contributing to a genetic study I'm really excited about because it directly affects and benefits me! I was born with a very rare congenital birth defect where skin didn't develop on the vertex of my skull. I got lucky in that it only extended to the bone a bit so there's a thin layer of bone between the dura mater and the skin. It can be a lot worse. This study is looking for the genetic cause of the defect. In the last year or so there has been a ton of new research published! They figured out which gene mutates to cause the defect. There's a whole additional paragraph on wikipedia that didn't exist when I last did research in like 2013.

So the skinless area scarred over and left a patch where the nerves are fucky and no hair grows right at the whorl of the scalp. I've been self-conscious about it all my life. Turns out there's a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills who told me it was an easy peasy fix (this doctor BUILDS EARS so of course tissue rearrangement on the scalp would be easy peasy). He can also then donate the affected tissue to the genetic study along with my saliva sample. I'm so excited both to contribute to science that affects me and to get one of my biggest insecurities fixed. I should finally be able to shave my head! Planning to get it done around August.

I meant to just write about the haggis but thought hubski might find this cool and sciencey.