StrokeSurvivorBlog

We just celebrated our second Thanksgiving since Steve’s stroke, and it was wonderful. The stroke had damaged cells in the temporal lobe of his brain which affected his sense of smell. Last year most cooking smells were nauseating to him, even though they were his favorite foods. But I am happy to say that this Thanksgiving he enjoyed those fragrant aromas.

Nineteen family members and friends crowded our dining area and indulged on the two turkeys, delicious customary dishes and several pies. It was a wonderful time as we celebrated our many blessings and the goodness of God. And I was especially thankful that Steve was still with us and that his sense of smell has normalized.

I don’t know of any other stroke survivors whose sense of smell has been affected by their stroke, but I do know one man whose stroke changed his sense of taste and made all of his food taste metallic. Needless to say, he didn’t enjoy eating. These are neurological conditions that usually don’t improve after stroke, so I’m so glad it did in Steve’s case.

Certain smells still bother Steve, like hairspray, nail polish, lotions and potpourri. But they did before the stroke too.  Interestingly, his cologne, paint or his pipe smoke don’t bother him at all. So go figure that! Maybe the way the stroke affected his sense of smell was to make it user-selective.

When he started rehab right after the stroke, he would get so fatigued. During his therapy sessions one physical therapist would always say to him, “That’s enough, you’re toast.” She said that so many times that whenever he got really tired, he could actually smell toast. No there wasn’t any toast, but his brain told his nose that there was. He was psychologically programmed to associate toast with fatigue. His sense of smell was affected this way well after he came home, and right before a nap he often asked me if I was making toast. It’s amazing how powerful our words are. Our tongue holds the power of life and death! Let’s use them to bring life into a situation.