Anosmia: A life without smell

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During Rachel Herz talk on Thursday I kept thinking of my cousin Steph. I found out a few years ago that she cant smell but I had never thought to ask her about it. Like many people I assumed losing your sense of smell wouldn't be that big of a deal. After class I decided I would interview her to see what it is like.  I didn't know if she had absolutely no sense of smell so I started out the conversation with food.

Can you taste anything past salty, sweet and sour?
"No I cant really. When people have really intense reactions I get the most sad about not being able to smell. I kinda live through their reactions to the food."

When did you know that you couldn't smell?
"At a young age, maybe seven. Everyone would describe certain things as smelling like chocolate or tomato sauce, and I would kinda just go along with it. My parents took me in the doctors and they thought that I was making it up. They issued me a scratch and sniff test and found out that I truly couldn't smell."

Can you ever remember smelling something?
"No, from what I can tell I was born with it. During college when my friends asked me about it I had an MRI and I had polyps (small non cancerous growths on the lining of the nasal passage). But other then that I haven't looked into it much.

Has having Anosmia even been dangerous to you?
"When I was in college my roommate came home and once of the burners was leaking. I couldn't smell it and that was kinda scary. Another time I almost drank sour milk, I always have to trust the sell by date on foods."

Do you consider yourself overly concerned with personal hygiene and smelling bad.?
I wouldn't say overly concerned but I do always make sure to shower after working out. When I first started dating my husband he used to make fun of me for washing my clothes every time I wore them. He helps me a lot in terms of smell, he even helps me pick out perfume. Now Im thankful I cant smell poopy diapers ."

Steph has congenital Anosmia. This is the most rare type of Anosmia. She mentioned during the interview that She considers herself lucky to have been born without smell rather then having to lose it later on in life. Even though her sense of flavor is severely impacted and she does notice it often, she could feel way worse about not being able to smell. She does not suffer from location memory issues. She describes her memory as almost photographic. When she told me this I began to wonder if her brain made up for the lack of stimuli early on. And finally I think its really wonderful that her husband helps her with coping and also keeping her alittle more safe.



Comments

  1. Jonathan Brumberg-KrausMarch 1, 2015 at 8:33 PM

    Wow! Way to take you learned to the next step and apply it to your life and relationships!

    ReplyDelete

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