• Our Mission

    Our Mission

    Our mission at PCD Smiles is to bring smiles to hospitalized primary ciliary dyskinesia, no mater their age; through the gift of a cheer package. Currently serving only The United States and Canada.
  • Request Cheer Package

    Request Cheer Package

    Know of a hospitalized primary ciliary dyskinesia patient? Please visit our “Request a Cheer Package” link and fill out our secured form to submit them for a cheer package today!
  • Donations

    Donations

    Our cheer package program runs on donations. To see how you can help PCD Smiles, visit our donations section today!
  • The PCD Artist Project is a collaborative effort by artist to raise awareness for PCD & support the PCD Smiles cheer package program. Visit our exhibits today!
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  • Nasal Washes, Yay or Nay?

    Nasal Washes, Yay or Nay?

    Are you Team Yay or Team Nay when it comes to nasal washes for you or your loved one with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD)? Nasal washes are an integral component to PCD care, or rather they could...
  • Disordered Sleeping and Sleep Disturbances in PCD

    Disordered Sleeping and Sleep Disturbances in PCD

    Disordered sleeping and sleep disturbances are more common in PCD than once thought. It’s not surprising given that you need to be able to breathe properly in order to sleep properly. Sleep related...
  • Can I live a Holistic Lifestyle with PCD?

    Can I live a Holistic Lifestyle with PCD?

    There are no studies into holistic lifestyle alongside a primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) diagnosis. There are however a few antidotal reports from the PCD patient population where patients have...
  • PCD Awareness Month a Necessary Evil?

    PCD Awareness Month a Necessary Evil?

    We are a little less than two weeks away from another PCD Awareness Month. I’m just not feeling it this year. It seems to get a little more difficult each year, and I am not sure why it gets more...

Self-care is another overlooked part of primary ciliary dyskinesia care. There are so many different facets to caring for yourself or a PCD loved one that we often forget to practice self-care. There are many forms of self-care: emotional, physical, mental, social, spiritual, and practical. Each one of these is unique to every individual. In trying to meet our medical needs and combat PCD symptoms it is so very easy to push off self-care until a more convenient time. Unfortunately that self-care is often delayed over and over again in favors of medical care. I think this is where we miss the boat in making sure we have well rounded care for our mind, body, and spirt.

It’s so easy to guilt ourselves into not taking care of our needs as individuals when we feel so wrapped up in medical needs. Self-care in the overall light of PCD medical care can seem like an indulgence, so it is often the first thing we skip or say we shouldn’t do. It is already so hard to take the time that we need to heal that it can seem ridiculous to take a walk for our mental and spiritual self. But if our mind and spirit aren’t taken care of they can be burdensome in the form of unintended stress and frustration. It’s extremely important to take time each and every single day to take time and focus inward to our self care needs.

Join us weekly in PCD Smiles’s Facebook Group, Turtle Talk Café for our new health and wellness program where amongst other things we will be diving into self-care during 2022. And be sure to join us next week for another Topic Thursday.

Join our Facebook group Turtle Talk Café today, click here.

We have several ways that you can donate to PCD Smiles;

- Visit Smile E. Turtle's Amazon Wishlist

- For more information on how you can donate, please visit our "Donation" page to check out our "Do & Don't policies.

- Or sponsor a PCD Smiles cheer package today!

- To shop for your “Official” turtle care ribbon gear today, visit PCD Style or Smile E. Cove

Thank you for your consideration!

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PCD Smiles’s 1st  Biennial Fundraiser Painting 4 Smiles

PCD Smiles’s 1st  Biennial Fundraiser Painting 4 Smiles

Can you help us reach our goal? PCD Smiles’s 1st Biennial fundraiser Painting 4 Smiles runs the...
Random Fact Friday 1

Random Fact Friday 1

“Regular clinical visits to monitor disease status are key. Aggressive treatment is recommended to...
Urgent Stuffies Needed for our Cheer Packages!

Urgent Stuffies Needed for our Cheer Packages!

We are in great need for all things stuffy for our littlest cheer package recipients. Our younger...