I’m oh-so happy to report: being one week post-op, my smell and taste is 100% back!

I’m getting reacquainted with life–oh, ya! That’s what my shampoo smells like! The scent of fresh cookies baking.  Realizing I probably should’ve changed out the dish cloth in the kitchen a couple days ago because it had gone sour.  Eating my favorite pasta sauce.  Grant’s smell of Dove soap, Eternity cologne, and deodorant all mixed together.  I’m even loving the smell of poopy diapers.  That’s how grateful I am to feel like a normal human being again.  I’m enjoying the smell of poo.

I had an appointment with my surgeon this week, where he took out the packing.  It was so strange–I could breathe out of my nose since the surgery, even though I had all this stuff up there!  My doctor put some liquid numbing agent up my nose and stuck these long, skinny pliers in and pulled out about an inch and a half, L-shaped foam-like packing.  I didn’t feel any pain.  Then, he told me he would numb me up a little more to get the gauze that was up in between my eyebrows.  UH?  WHAT?!  I asked him, “I thought that was supposed to dissolve.”  He said most of it probably was, but he wanted to get out what hadn’t so I wouldn’t develop any scar tissue in that area.  Crap.  Again, this was a strange feeling.  It didn’t really hurt, which was kind of surreal since I knew how far he was poking around up in my nose. I mean BETWEEN MY EYEBROWS!???!!!  I just felt a lot of pressure and after a minute or so, out came two little pieces of gauze.  And it was over.

So needless to say, I’m thoroughly enjoying life right now.  Granted, I’m eating like a crazy person.  I think I’m still in the mindset that I could lose my smell and taste at any moment, and to savor as much as I can to try to remember what everything tastes like.  I’m constantly sniffing Donovan, something I’m sure he’s sick of already.  My speaking voice is back to normal.  No more stuffiness.  My singing voice is clearer–a huge relief.  And yes, I’m already thinking ahead to the next time I get pregnant (whenever that will be) and dreading of going through developing nasal polyps all over again.  But my surgeon is fairly confident that with this new steroid nasal rinse I’ll be using twice a day (unfortunately for-who-knows-how-long…forever?) will help keep them at bay.  And if it doesn’t, I would have the surgery again in a heartbeat.

Yup. Totally worth it.  Poo smells and all.