We were fortunate to have two daughters who lived nearby and could drop groceries off on our porch. One decided to give me a special treat and buy some of the holiday flavor K cup coffee that I love so much.
After she left, I made a cup of coffee and settled down to enjoy it with a cookie. To my disappointment, it appeared that the manufacturer had evidently reduced the flavoring when they cut the size of the box from 12 cups to 10. What a rip off.
Maybe it was old, I thought. When I checked the date on the box, I found that it was not anywhere near expiration. As coffee goes it tasted fine but plain. I tried the fancy coffee a few times more in the morning and afternoon with no improvement. The entire box was bad, I thought.
I called to tell her not to buy any more of that coffee, because I felt bad that she had wasted the money. She laughed at me. Evidently I’d gradually lost some of my sense of smell without realizing it. Testing confirmed that I had COVID-19 and it had attacked my tastebuds and smell.
This explained why I had looked under the sofa for something the dog might have brought in, but found nothing. In my defense, the pup looked guilty. There had been a wiff of something nasty then it was gone. This random stink only happened a few times and of course my husband didn’t smell it. Other people with the virus had reported random odd smells.
I should have known what was going on and gave the dog a milk bone to apologize.
Last week I tried one of those fancy coffees and for a few seconds I got a wonderful aroma of cherry mocha coffee. Then it was gone. Two months after having my positive COVID test my taste is mostly back but my sense of smell is still kind of numb.
Cris Cobb, a Mad River Twp. hairdresser, fully lost her sense of smell and taste for three weeks. She said that when her taste was gone, eating was all about texture, and fresh vegetables were all she wanted. She lost a few pounds too.
She has mostly recovered and is back to work, but her tastebuds are still not right.
“Sometimes mint flavor is still weak. I miss toothpaste taste,” she said.
Enon resident Mary Beth Ratliff’s entire family; husband Dave, daughter Becca, and son Josh, had the virus and it hit them in different ways.
“Dave just lost his two senses without warning. I had a bad taste in my mouth before I lost mine and Becca had a horrible smell in her nose. Josh had a metallic taste in his mouth,” Mary Beth said.
“It was a weird feeling not being clogged up but not being able to smell anything.
“Josh, Becca, and I can taste and smell again although some foods don’t taste the same now. Dave has slight taste back, but most of his smell has returned,” she said.
The worst part was that after losing his sense of taste and smell, Dave got worse and Mary Beth had to send him to the hospital alone.
“It was the most helpless feeling watching that ambulance drive away with him and I couldn’t go.” she said.
I remember the sinking feeling I had when she posted this on Facebook right after it happened. Within minutes she had dozens of notes of encouragement from friends and neighbors and she says it helped her.
“We felt the prayers and owe God all the Glory and Praise. One friend sent me a message that said you have a whole village praying for your family and we truly knew it,” Mary Beth said.
Dave Ratliff was in and out of the hospital a couple of times, but has now recovered as has the rest of the family.
That is the crazy thing about this pandemic. Some of us just lose sense of smell and others end up in the intensive care or worse. There seems to be no rhyme or reason.
My heart goes out to all who are going through the trauma of this illness or the loss of a loved one. There is no understanding why and we cannot hug to comfort each other. All I do know is that we cannot handle this alone.
If you know anyone with the virus, do what you can to give them emotional, physical and spiritual support, as you keep your safe distance, wash your hands and wear your mask. Ask if they need groceries, drop the needed items off by their front door and add a few brightly colored grocery store flowers to the package if you can.
But don’t waste your money on fancy flavored coffee. Save that for later to celebrate their recovery.
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