In January 2020, I was the owner of a highly respected catering company, FIG Catering. I loved food and was most happy developing menus, testing recipes, and being in the chaotic excitement of live, in-person events. First quarter is always difficult for caterers—we lose money and rely on client deposits/borrowing to get through until the busy season. We were in debt, but confident we’d get out of the hole, as in past years, as events kicked off. Just three months later, after losing more than $120,000 in one week and considering the future (incurring more debt, digging out of the hole, pivoting to a business model I did not enjoy), I made the decision to close my business. I laid off nine full-time employees . . . via Zoom. It was one of the most awful things I have ever had to do.
As the fall changed into winter, my senses got worse, not better. Some foods tasted good one day and then awful (or not at all) the next day. Other symptoms showed up: some days my sinuses felt sore, or my throat felt like it was full of cotton and difficult to swallow. I did some deeper reading on the long-term effects of COVID and talked with others I knew who had lost their senses (How long did it take them to recover? Did they try anything that helped?). I tried home remedies: smelling freshly-grated ginger and horseradish, eating charred oranges with brown sugar, drinking A LOT of water. After reading a few studies attributing some long-haul COVID symptoms to inflammation, I went on the Whole 30 diet. I had done Whole 30 in the past, so I knew what to expect and I trudged through December, keeping pretty strictly to the program in hopes of recovering my senses. I did start to feel a bit better—my sinuses hurt less and my throat seemed more normal. (Although, confession: I went quite a bit astray on my actual birthday including wine, and I felt AWFUL for two days afterwards.) Unfortunately, my senses didn’t seem to be coming back at all. If anything they were just morphing strangely, causing some things to taste and smell disgusting—including coffee!
