Anosmia and the power of smell

[COL Jagdog]

I mediated a case in New Orleans yesterday - young man was in a bad car wreck, head trauma and total loss of the sense of smell ("anosmia" --the person affected usually retains the sense of bitter, sour, salty, sweet but cannot discriminate among more subtle smells) -- as we went thru the day, I tried to imagine what it would be to lose the sense of smell --
and thought of all the smells that orient us to the world we live in, particularly the smells I like: the smell of early morning bacon, eggs and coffee before a morning duck hunt, the smell of a spent shotgun smell on a cold morning, Christmas trees, the smell of a new book, puppy breath,
early morning salt air during a run on the beach, the smell of spruce and aspens on a hike in the mountains, the smell of newly cut grass, the smells of bakeries, Chinese restaurants and Bar-B-Que joints when you walk or drive by them, the smell of fresh laundered sheets, the smell of leather, freshly plowed fields (the smell of good dirt), the smell of approaching rain, the smell of a high school football field (turf) when you walk on it after the game, the smell of my wife's roast and rice and gravy in the fall when I come home after brushing duck blinds, the smell of Zatarains Crab Boil, the smell of freshly chopped green onions, bell peppers and a roux being cooked when my wife makes gumbo, the smell of a freshly opened bag of Community coffee, eucalyptus, the smell of a woman's freshly washed hair, the smell of turboprop wash when you walk up the rear ramp of a C-130 (really brings memories flooding back), the smell of ordnance(I know this may sound strange to those non-military, but if you have ever picked up a new mortar round or 40 mm grenade, they have a pleasant metallic smell), the smell of the air after a cool front has moved thru -- and one of my favorites -- the smell of cinnamon (my wife often puts a few sticks of cinnamon in a pan of water and slow-boils them in the winter -- amazing smell). I can always remember where I was and what I was doing when I hear certain music (Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, etc) but I never really thought about it with regard to smells -- although I have always been very good at remembering women's perfumes and can remember who wore which perfume. I have always marveled at the ability of my dogs to track the smell of doves or ducks in rice stubble or marsh grass and I know how much smells mean to them (although thankfully, people are not in the habit of smelling each other's rear ends as dogs are wont to do -- who knows what olfactory cues that would bring).

And of course, the smell of good bourbon or Scotch.

 

[mball]

....and the smell of napalm in the morning.

 

[Stevens]

Walking down Bourbon St. early on a Sunday morning and losing your sense of smell (temporarily) might be a good thing!
I'm joking of course, it sounds like a terrible condition.
Steve W

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

So how much did they settle for????
Sorry-it's the lawyer in me

 

[COL Jagdog]

Caj,

It settled for enough to keep you in Hendrickson's, G&H duck decoys, Go-Devil's, Gator Tails (if you are a surface-drive kind of guy), Shimano Calcutta reels, All-Star rods, Steen's, Trappey's red beans/navy beans,
a couple of nice S&W's every month -- for quite a few years. Hanging the threat of a CDC jury over the adjuster's head got the deal done --
very nice plaintiff.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Whoa....nice plaintiff AND a CDC jury
That, a deep pocket and gut liability are what dreams are made of

 

[jkc]

This condition would be a great asset for any reporter assigned to cover any state legislature...

 

[Onomea]

That is a nice collection of smells. I'll add the scent of a new leather holster.

The Scent of a Woman, with Al Pacino, was a pretty good movie, as I recall.

 

[Marshwheeling]

Something similar happened to a woman I know quite a few years ago. A drunk lawyer ran a light (she was a lawyer, too), T-boned her car and pinned it up against a house. She healed up pretty well, except for the loss of the olfactory orbit, a bundle of nerves that deal with the sense of smell. You sum up very eloquently her "loss of enjoyment of life".

She settled for policy limits, which was $400k, quite a piece of change in the early '70s.

(You might well ask what is this area I live in, where lawyers are so thick on the ground they are crashing into each other.)

 

[mwtdvm]

Not Anosmia but similar

In December I had a major drug reaction to sulfas, called "Stevens-Johnson Syndrome". Survived that but ended up with an altered sense of taste.

The only things that tastes "normal" are citrus and fruit yogurt. Several things that I really enjoyed, in moderation of course, were dark chocolate and BACON. They both now tasted bitter and greasy, respectively. Other stuff just doesn't taste "good".

So when God gives you Lemons, make lemonade. I have dropped about 43# and have a ways to go.

Those little Mandarin oranges, labeled "Cuties" are a mainstay.

I do miss the chocolate...

Sigh

 

[chud333]

Good Post by the Colonel.
You don't realize what you would miss until you sit down and
start making a list. I'll add, "being from Indiana", the smell of
a new mown hay field.


chuck