This isn’t necessarily a direct answer to your question, but it is tangentially related and I wanted to share this somewhere :)
I had a combination septoplasty+turbinoplasty about two years ago and it has been the single most significant quality-of-life improvement of anything in my life. Before the surgery, I could not breathe through my nose, and it’s hard to explain just how much better things feel now that I’m able to breathe through my nose most of the time. My mouth is no longer constantly dry, my lips are no longer permanently chapped and cracked and peeling. I no longer have permanently bad breath, which was something people in my family complained about a lot (doubly bad because i couldn’t smell it). I actually have a sense of smell now. My extremely picky eating is pretty much a thing of the past, because food doesn’t all taste like cardboard with a slimy texture. I used to have constant trouble with insomnia, now that I’m not constantly fighting to get air into my lungs I can sleep through the night almost every night.
Many trans people say that colors appear more intense and vivid after they started taking the correct hormones; that the grass is literally greener. I can confirm that from firsthand experience. I can also say with confidence that this is nothing compared to the sheer joy of unlocking an entirely new sense which you didn’t have for the first 21 years of your life.
This isn’t necessarily a direct answer to your question, but it is tangentially related and I wanted to share this somewhere :)
I had a combination septoplasty+turbinoplasty about two years ago and it has been the single most significant quality-of-life improvement of anything in my life. Before the surgery, I could not breathe through my nose, and it’s hard to explain just how much better things feel now that I’m able to breathe through my nose most of the time. My mouth is no longer constantly dry, my lips are no longer permanently chapped and cracked and peeling. I no longer have permanently bad breath, which was something people in my family complained about a lot (doubly bad because i couldn’t smell it). I actually have a sense of smell now. My extremely picky eating is pretty much a thing of the past, because food doesn’t all taste like cardboard with a slimy texture. I used to have constant trouble with insomnia, now that I’m not constantly fighting to get air into my lungs I can sleep through the night almost every night.
Many trans people say that colors appear more intense and vivid after they started taking the correct hormones; that the grass is literally greener. I can confirm that from firsthand experience. I can also say with confidence that this is nothing compared to the sheer joy of unlocking an entirely new sense which you didn’t have for the first 21 years of your life.