Due to the Christmas Eve Concussion of ’12 , I deal with Dysosmia*. Ironically, due to my profession (or the concussion), I keep thinking it’s dysnomia: the difficulty in recalling words from memory needed for expressive language.
That first Christmas, I had absolutely no sense of smell (anosmia) and my sister…bless her heart…no, really: bless her heart…was kind enough to stick her sniffer in my armpit when I wasn’t sure if I had body odor. I had been traveling and forgot to pack deodorant, so instead, used what I had readily available: hairspray. Apparently it worked #travelhack.
At present, I’m dealing with cacosmia: my armpits smell like onion body odor, and it’s not the first time–this nasty scent has waxed and waned in my life for years. Just months ago I was celebrating my birthday with my sister at a women’s conference where we were ‘gettin’ our praise on’. Afterwards, we were waiting in a line and that vile onion B.O. was wafting up to my nose AGAIN–really makes a gal feel insecure–so, I raised my arm high and asked Lynda if she’d do the sniff test for me. All was well, but there were several hundred women gawking at us in confusion. “It’s okay…we’re sisters,” she started, “and she had a concussion…and….it’s…” Sometimes the sisters just gotta own it–Sister Sniffer, you’re the only one.
*Words Ending in OSMIA:
Anosmia: inability to perceive odors
Cacosmia: imagined vile odor
Dysosmia: smell inaccurately conveys disagreeable sensations
Hyposmia: reduced ability detect odors
Phantosmia: phantom smell (I prefer: olfactory hallucination)
