Friends, Family, and Strangers

So far, I haven't publicized my blog address, just sent it to a friend and to my sister Meg. Both have managed to post comments, both resolutely determined to toy with me. Naturally I'll have the last word.

Meanwhile, a third person responded, God only knows how she came across me (and part of me can't help thinking she's a figment of someone's imagination, maybe mine). She has phantosmia too, and she had also found Dr. Leopold through her web research, but first she had to jump through the hoops of doctors who found her complaint trivial and dismissible. That's exactly why I have no interest in going to my doctor. That, and the fact that she'll remind me that my cholesterol is up, and what about that sigmoidoscopy I owe her? My respondent tells me that Dr. Leopold was sympathetic, helpful, and great, and I've found him to be the same. After I answered the questions he asked me, he surmised that I've experienced a loss of my ability to smell, and that, it being in the early stages, more changes are bound to come. He asks that I see a doctor if it continues for some time, and today he wrote again asking me to stay in touch. One in a million, I think.

My blog reader, Kari, urged me to stay away from things like chocolate, tobacco, and red wine—things with tannins. So there is another connection to explore. Linking "tannins" with "phantosmia" yields a blog where someone who suffered a head injury experiences a distorted sense of smell alternately with a pervasively horrible smell. She believes that alpha lipoic acid, which she's been taking for about a year, has helped her regain her normal sense of smell for most things. In her latest posting she was celebrating enjoying strawberries again, now that they didn't smell like exhaust.

I'm in with a strange crowd.