That Stinks!

Now we both are sick.

I was on an antibiotic before Christmas, having developed a raging ear infection that required an intervention. By the big day, I was feeling better, but I also knew it wasn't gone. It still wasn't gone Friday when I finished up the antibiotic. I wrote my doctor, and she said to try a nasal steroid, which I have. I only have sharp pains in my ear every now and then and a bit of fatigue and fog brain.

My husband woke in the night Saturday night with congestion. Covid test - negative. A head cold, we think, possibly from the great niece or nephew who climbed all over him like he was a set of monkey bars when we saw them over the holidays, or from running all over Lowes and Home Depot trying to find something to fix an issue we are having in the bathroom.

We have a smelly drain in the shower.

He cannot smell it. It has been smelling for some time, and I kept waiting on him to say something. He never did, and when it reached the point where I thought I might throw up in the shower, I asked him what he was waiting for to fix that problem - and he told me he didn't smell a thing. I don't know how he could not, but whatever.

Anyway, he pulled off the shower drain cover, and there was lots of muck about it, and he cleaned that off, and then we doused the drain line with vinegar and baking soda, then a little bleach.

That did not take care of the problem.

So, we went off to one of the hardware stores on the day after Christmas. I wore a mask. He did not. We found a new drain cover and he picked up a scrub brush and some other things he thought would help, including Drano.

Then he sat to work scrubbing and cleaning the drain. He went back to the hardware store again for some bio enzyme sticks to put in there, too. He told me he stopped and talked to several people he knew, and he didn't mask up, either. He could have picked up some virus anywhere.

The smell is much improved but not gone. Yesterday, he dumped more vinegar and baking soda down the drain, and then he ran a water line through the clean-out line to the septic tank, which indicated nothing was stopped up there. He also poured water down the drain of the bathroom with a tub we do not use (we use it for storage) in case that was adding to the issue.

And there's still a smell that he cannot smell. It is better, but it is still there (fortunately not as sickening, but an indication of a problem). Now he is sick and I honestly don't know what else to try. We're on a septic tank and you can only pour so much bleach down the drain before you mess up the bacteria in the septic tank.

We are now putting baking soda in the drain before and after every shower. The hotter the shower, the more it stinks, so I am taking lukewarm showers. That is definitely a wake-up call in the morning.

We will return to trying to address this issue again when he feels more like dealing with it. In the meantime, I will be learning to hold my breath while under water.