Getting My Sense of Smell Back

I’m not exactly sure when I lost my sense of smell. Smell is a subtle thing. It was something that faded away without much of a fuss. I don’t even remember having a day when I realized that I had lost my sense of smell. It was a conclusion that I came to over time, as people pointed out smells that I didn’t notice. People usually found out I couldn’t smell when someone would react to a repugnant smell and I would state that I had lost my sense of smell. The funny thing is people would tell me I’m lucky. I never knew how to respond to that, sure I could not smell foul things, but I also couldn’t smell that earthy smell the ground lets out during a summer rain. Eating was not pleasurable as it once was, food was bland. The reason I could no longer smell was nasal polyps in my sinuses had blocked off my olfactory passage. I grow polyps like an invasive plant species in Madagascar. They destroyed everything in their path (my polyps had completely filled, eroded and destroyed my sinuses). I’ve had two surgeries, the first one did nothing more than allow me to breathe through my nose again. The effects were short lived and within six months I was sounding like a pug again when breathing. And while not that relevant the surgeon was also a total dick. The second surgery I had was with a new surgeon, the nasal polyp guy. He was nice and very handsome, which is not extremely relevant apart from I tend to bleed and snot all over him which is embarrassing. He spent over four hours removing polyps and rebuilding my sinuses, he wanted to get every last one of the suckers out. After surgery I could breathe threw my nose again and the results lasted. But still no sense of smell. To manage my polyps (those fuckers grow back at an alarming rate) I have a complex daily routine of rinsing and snorting various steroids up my nose.  I also visit my surgeon every 3-4 months to get my polyp debrided (like a roto router for your nose). But still no smell, it was just life. Then last year I went on a magic study drug. The magic drug that got rid of my asthma also gifted me my sense of smell. One day not that long ago I was sitting on the couch with my partner and a rank smell floated my way. Without even thinking about it I yelled at him “what the fuck is that, it smells like you have a dead fish up your ass” (I’m crude what can I say). Miles (my partner of four years) just looked at me in total shock and surprise. As long as we have been together I have never been able to smell, so he took to the habit of “letting one rip” whenever the need arose. It should be noted that he did take great effort ensuring when he passed gas that there was an audible sound so I would be aware of what he had done. So the first thing I smelled in almost 10 years was a fart, and a rank one at that. My eyes watered up but not because of the smell, but because I could smell. I went and smelling everything. Eating was incredible. When I eat a raspberry for the first time after getting my sense of smell back, memories of eating raspberries in my grandmother’s garden came flooding back. The thing with smell is that they are tied to our memories in a direct neurological way, and you can’t just recall them like an image in your head. While my sense of smell is not great it is there. I’m not sure how long it will be before it’s gone again, but while it lasts I am taking the time to ensure I smell the roses.