Sensitivities and a Tip

Remember how I wrote about my sensitivity to smell after each of my last two surgeries? Sensitive, like you are having severe morning sickness. Sensitive, like you have the sense of smell of a blood hound. Sensitive, like everyone around you seems to have used perfume or cologne to shower with. Sensitive because of your hormones and all this craziness going on in your body. Okay, I'll stop... 

After the first surgery, I thought that it was because I had been on oxygen for 2 days. I had my eyes closed most of the time but as soon as someone who had perfume/cologne came in, I could smell them. It made me very nauseous, and I was already nauseous. It made me grab the plastic container they had given me at the hospital. After my second surgery, I wasn't expecting to be more sensitive to smell. But, I was. 

A group of pastors came to pray for me at the hospital. As soon as they walked in, I could smell the strong cologne that someone was wearing. I started to feel more nauseous and I thought that I was going to throw up. One of them asked if I was ok. I told them, in my broken Korean, that I was feeling very sensitive to smell and that someone's cologne was making me really nauseous - saying many sorries in between. Some of you might be thinking, "How'd she say that in Korean?" OR "Can she really say that in Korean?" Well, I think I did because they understood me. Or, it might have been that one of them translated what I said to the others. 

They quickly nodded and one of the pastors read a passage and said a few words. Then he prayed for me. I was so thankful for their encouraging words and prayers. It meant a lot to me that they took the time to come. But I was glad when they left. Not because I'm rude. Because I was seriously going to throw up, and I didn't want them to have the memory of watching me hurl imprinted on their minds.

My father. My brother. They both made me sick. My husband also. I even made myself sick when I got home. I couldn't stand the smell of my hair. I had to pull it away from my face. I wasn't able to take a shower or wash my hair because it made me nauseous and dizzy to bend my head forward. I did wash my face and put some lotion on. But then I had to wash my face again because I couldn't stand the smell of the lotion. Lotion that I had been using for years.

Well, my point in all of this is this: when you visit someone who is sick, don't wear perfume, cologne, or heavily scented anything. They might not be sensitive to smell or they might. You just never know.