4 points, 100% anosmic

I went back to see Mr Philpott at the Spire hospital yesterday to have another smell test. This was exactly the same as the one that I had at my initial appointment with him to gauge the full extent of my anosmia; a number of 'sniffin' sticks' done blindfolded and a few with a visual stimulus to see if that could prompt any olfactory reaction. I thought I did rather well at this bit and there were many that I answered confidently. It was interesting to note that half of the images I was told the smell could be I have no memory of smelling, so a lot of it was done by me assuming that the smell would be similar to the taste. These images included various fruits, honey, wood, leather, smoke, wine etc.

I then had another nasal endoscopy to have a look at the inside of my nose to see if everything had healed well from the surgery; which it has done! Mr Philpott then discussed the results of my smell test with me. I had improved by four points since before the surgery. Which is nothing, basically. Especially as three of those were fluke; I had simply managed to match the smell to the right image accidentally. The only one I got right was peppermint. This means that I am still what they would call 100% anosmic. I needed eight more points in order to move into the next category which is 'diminished sense of smell'. 

Mr Philpott said that there was nothing more that they could do for me. He would be interested to see me in another three months from a purely academic point of view, to see why the surgery hadn't worked, which I think I will do. Because quite honestly, I would quite like to know too.

I don't really want to go into how obviously disappointing this is for me. I will keep at my smell training with the essential oils and I keep an eye on any medical advances that are made in the anosmia field in the future, just in case another alternative presents itself. I know I said before that I thought I could smell sometimes and even though that turns out to now be purely just psychological and not real, it's better than nothing at all.

FIFTH SENSE / UNDER 25 AND ANOSMIC

This one's kind of a big deal, so I wanted to give it a post all to itself. As I'm sure I've mentioned before, there is a website called Fifth Sense (link here), which is a site dedicated to anosmia and anosmic support.

The one thing that I always felt was missing from it, was advice aimed specifically at young people. Even on the anosmia page on Facebook, the youngest person I have ever come across, apart from myself, was 34. This may not seem like much of a big deal, but the concerns that are shared are those to do with burning down their house, or what their spouse thinks of them, or their children. These are issues that are way above the head of someone under the age of 25 who is also suffering from anosmia. They are having to deal with the constant teasing from their friends, who cannot take it seriously or understand what a big deal it is. In a time where all you want to do is fit in, you are already feeling so completely isolated from the world around you that it just makes it really, really tough.

So I decided that I was going to change this, and I was going to create a support network for anosmics under the age of 25. I emailed Duncan Boak, the man that runs Fifth Sense for advise and after some discussion, he offered me a subsection of the Fifth Sense website itself to do this. This is better than I ever could have hoped for, especially as Fifth Sense itself is continuing to grow and aiming to become an internationally recognised charity, the groundwork has already been done for me. I am spearheading an international support group for young anosmics.

I have been posting on Facebook, on twitter, on tumblr... anywhere I can think of to ask young people with anosmia to come forward and tell me their stories and any advice they wish they had been given, or that they feel that they could give to other young anosmics. I have already had so many replies from all over the world, and it is incredible. We are not alone. There are people out there who are going through exactly the same thing as each other and I want them to know that, to know that they have the support of so many others just like themselves.

So please. If you, or anyone you know is under 25 and ansomic please get them to message me so I can include their stories on the Fifth Sense website where it can help so many others.

A very delayed post-surgery message

I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to post. I've been unbelievably busy, so I'll try and update you in everything that has happened and I will try and keep it short.

So... the plastic splints! They ended up looking something like this, and ended up reaching right to the back of my nose (as you can sort of see in the bottom left hand image) and were basically horrific.

There was no magic moment in regaining my smell, once they were out, more just relief that I could wiggle my nose again. I could then also stick a finger up it and prod around my septum so I could figure out exactly what the damage was. And basically, I had a massive chunk taken out of it. If you could see up my nose you would be able to see the most impressive scarring ever, but luckily you can't and so it's impossible to tell that I ever had surgery!

And now, 3 months later? Well, there has been some improvement! Which is pretty amazing actually. It will be a very gradual process, and I have an appointment next Thursday to go back and see Mr Philpott to have another smell test so we can gauge exactly what improvement there has been. Smell is weird, because I still have no idea how much of it is psychological. So I don't know if I am starting to smell things, or if I'm just thinking that I can because I know I should be. I'm doing smell training every day, which involves smelling different essential oils, and some days I can name them, and some days I can't. But most days I can actually detect when there is a smell under my nose, which I could never even dream of doing before.

I HAVE (had) GIANT PLASTIC THINGS SEWN INTO MY NOSE

Firstly, I would just like to say thank you to everyone for your kind messages of support and wishes of luck for my surgery last Friday. I was overwhelmed by the response from both friends and strangers and I am so grateful to you all. I would also like to extend my thanks to Spire Hospital and to Mr Carl Philpott for looking after me so well.

Although it is too early to tell if the surgery has been a success in terms if any anosmia improvement, there were no complications during theatre and I am making a great recovery. I am now able to take minimal painkillers and go without a lovely moustache-esque bandage under my nose. I am able to breathe through it, although I do have two large plastic splints inside each nostril holding my nose apart so I am not able to breathe quite as clearly as I would like to be able to. These are also proving quite annoying and I frequently wake up in the middle of the night wanting to tear them out, but I am seeing Mr Philpott on Friday where these will be removed.

NOTE: THIS POST WAS DATED IN JULY, BUT I AM POSTING IT NOW. SORRY.