My new and improved nose

I have a cold at the moment, but it's unlike any cold I've ever had before. Anyone who hasn't read my fascinating posts about getting surgery on my nose, here's a recap: I had really bad allergies for a couple decades and had to inhale all kinds of steroids in order to be able to breathe through my nose. Just before coming to the UK, I saw an ENT physician who did two operations on me. One was to reduce the size of the membranes in my nasal passages, and the other was to correct a deviated septum.

Boy am I glad I had these operations! I have a cold, but what I don't have is the usual raging sinus infection. I don't feel like all my sinus cavities are stuffed with peanut butter and my ears don't feel like they'll explode. I just have a kind of stuffy nose. I don't think I'll need to go on antibiotics to shake this one.

Normally, when coming to the UK, I'd catch a cold on the airplane over, then have a series of sinusitis flare ups that would require me to be on antibiotics every couple of weeks. When I was over here for college, I'd get 3-6 colds in one nine week term. It was crazy. Whenever I tried to steam my sinuses, they'd slam shut all the way. Sleeping was near impossible, what with my insomnia plus a nose that felt plugged up with concrete.

This time around is so different, and I love it! I had wondered if my sense of smell would return too, but it hasn't. I do have a sense of smell, but it's not very good. I have no idea why this is.

The novel's at about 70,000 words, but I'm ripping apart and retooling the second act, so that number will bounce around for a while. The third act should be pretty straightforward, and then I'll be done!