Last week, my mom asked if I had noticed any difference in my almost non-stop allergy problems. There’d been some speculation my “seasonal” allergies would improve after the oral surgery. At the time she asked, I hadn’t really thought about it and hadn’t noticed any drastic changes to my continually snotty nose. This week I paid attention to it, and yes, I have noticed some differences.

I’m breathing through my nose. Both nostrils even. Instead of being perpetually stuffed up and draining down my throat at night, my nose drips all the time during the day in the normal drippy-nose kind of way. That sucks somewhat, but at least I can breath through my nose, and the dripping is better this week than last week, so maybe that’ll clear up too.

I sneeze many times a day. I have never been much of a sneezer. Provided I avoid being too near Lin when he is letting loose with the pepper shaker, I used to go weeks without ever sneezing at all. I now sneeze at the drop of a hat. Not just one little “achoo” either. No, it’s more like sneezing so hard and so many times in a row I can’t catch my breath. All the sneezing is really strange for me, but wow, sneezing is such a satisfying feeling! It’s like an orgasm for the nose.

I can apparently smell for miles now. My sense of scent has always been great. Considering how my nose has always been mostly stuffed up, that was surprising, but I could smell everything just fine. Now it’s like I have super-human smelling ability. I am not kidding, I can smell stuff from way too far away now, and anything that smells nearby drives me crazy. I can’t even wear perfume right now, even the really light ones I usually wear, because it’s just too strong no matter how little I put on. I had to switch to perfume free laundry detergent this week. The stuff I have been using for years and loving is suddenly smells so strong to me it’s like someone broke an entire bottle of awful perfume on my clean clothes. Being able to smell things is nice, but I sometimes feel like I am being assaulted by scents, and many of them are not pleasant.

With the increased sense of smell, my sense of taste has also improved. I’m already a supertaster, so to have that improve isn’t really a benefit. It’s not awful, by any means, but there are some things I was eating before that I now can’t stand, like the spicy link sausage we have been buying for the last year. It used to just feel slightly spicy on my tongue, and now one tiny little bite of it makes the tip of my tongue feel like it’s on fire. Acidic foods, like some of the tomatoes we usually eat, are also almost too overwhelming. I love being able to taste things strongly, but I may have to adjust my diet a little to accommodate how very well I am tasting things these days if this doesn’t level out.

I also have not had a single headache since the surgery. Not one. Not even a little one. No sinus pain either. This is an utter blessing and just completely bizarre. Even better than not having at least a couple of sinus related headaches a week, I also haven’t had a migraine. Yet. It’s only a been a month, but normally the usual monthly hormone changes give me a nasty migraine at the same time in the cycle every month. It’s possible this month was just a fluke, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. It would change my life unbelievably to not have at least one migraine a month. I personally can’t even imagine life without that hassle and pain.

And then there are the cosmetic changes too. The puffiness under my eyes is gone, as is most of the darkness in that area. Also, my smile is at last symmetrical without me having to think about it. One of my jaw muscles always pulled oddly tight when I smiled, and I had to consciously make it relax, or my smile was lopsided. I also find myself allowing my teeth to rest together in my mouth. I often would be slack-jawed, because that was the most comfortable position for my achy jawbone. Thanks to not having to do that anymore, my face now looks rounder.

Well, actually I’m looking rounder all over due to my new ability to eat anything I want any time I want without having to be careful about chewing or thinking about how I am chewing to avoid pain. I am eating. Boy, am I eating. I am eating everything all the time and in larger portions than ever. I love eating. I’m going to have to get a handle on the eating. While I could do with a little weight gain, at the rate I have been gaining the last month, it’s something I am going to have to watch. I’ve never gained ten pounds in a month … until now.

Bottom line is that I have indeed seen quite a few positive benefits from the surgery other than having a healthy mouth. Well, healthier mouth. I still have some work to be done sometime in the next few months. But … my allergy problems do seem to be changing and improving, and so far the headache/migraine situation seems to be doing so as well. All in all, I have been feeling far more fit than I have in decades, and it’s been fabulous! Really, really great!

Now all I have to do is keep myself from gaining ten pounds a month, because that will add up fast, and I can’t afford to buy a whole new wardrobe. :lol: