I had heart surgery in November. Ever since then I smell smoke. I told my surgeon, the nurses and everyone I spoke to in the hospital before surgery not to use morphine on me because it does not work. I found out morphine doesn't control pain at all when I had my appendix removed five years ago. When they switched to Dilaudid it worked fine. I found out after surgery they used morphine on me anyway. The surgeon told me during surgery I was still reacting to pain so they had to put me under further than normal. Is it possible that this could have damaged my nasal passages causing me to smell smoke all the time now? Do I have a case for malpractice? It has been 8 months since surgery. The Dr. said he's never heard of this, but he kept telling me to wait 6 months to see if it goes away! Because of the pain after surgery, I had to keep the breathing tube in me for 24 hours. This was something I also told them I was concerned about before surgery. It was a nightmare!

Have you seen an ENT yet? Ear, Nose and Throat specialist ?

You could have something else going on like a fungal infection and its causing a smell to appear. Does it go away when you eat or drink something then return awhile later ?

The condition you describe is called phantosmia, meaning phantom odors not associated with an external stimulus.

Does the smell come and go or is it always present?

Do you have any other medical conditions, such as circulatory problems?

What medications are you taking?

Here is an interesting website of people who have the same problem: Phantosmia (http://ancientreflection.blogspot.com/2011/03/phantosmia.html)

It never goes away completely, but it is worse when there is real smoke around, like in the kitchen or when I smell second hand smoke. By the way, I have never smoked, nor does anyone in my family. I have never had this problem until after surgery!