Nose-blind

Last week, I wrote about our boys getting sick.  They recovered nicely, but as tends to happen, I picked up their germs myself and came down with a nasty sinus infection.  I've now recovered as well with the help of some antibiotics.  I had an interesting experience during my illness, though... temporary anosmia.

Many times I've had trouble smelling things while sick, but this was the first time that I lost my sense of smell completely.  I tested very strong smells like bleach and acetone (as well as Arram's epic diapers, of course), but they didn't register, not even a little.   It was like living inside a deep-frozen wasteland where nothing smells of anything.  Additionally, it was very interesting for me to experience firsthand the old saying that taste is actually mostly smell:  because I lost my sense of smell 100%, I also lost my sense of taste by about 90%. 

I could tell in a very vague way that something was sweet vs. bitter, but I couldn't differentiate, say, mint from watermelon.  I did a taste test on some leftovers:  aside from the texture, I perceived savoury peanut noodles, beef with rice, and vegetable stir-fry as identical (identically bland, that is).  It was so odd. 

The novelty quickly wore off, though, and after several days I was feeling bored with food and craving flavor... any flavor.  I found crunchy textures, such as celery, much more amusing than I had previously, but still.   It's kind of sad when celery is your best option for comfort food.  I guess it was a decent diet aid, since I had no incentive to eat chocolate or any other junk.  I worried, what if it never comes back?  It was rather terrifying to consider a lifetime without chocolate.

Then the next day I realised that I caught a tiny hint of garlic in my dinner--it was incredibly subtle, but it was there.  The day after that, there was a hint of coffee flavor in my coffee.  And after that, I was able to correctly diagnose Arram's need for a diaper change by smell alone (although I really hadn't missed that aroma, lemme tell ya).   Now I'm back to normal, more or less, and grateful for our tasty world.