• 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...

“Here smell this. Does it smell to you?”, this is a common occurrence in my house. Or rather it used to be, because my family gets tired of it. See it’s just safer for me to just not trust anything that’s not fresh out of a box, like just opened for the first time. Ten to one if the lunch meat has already been opened for the first time, I won’t touch it again unless there is another person to decide if it’s not spoiled. I typically avoid milk that’s not fresh unopened from the store period, I hate leftovers too.

A person without primary ciliary dyskinesia may not truly understand these things, but it took one time just once getting food poisoning for me to decide that my lack of sense of smell can be dangerous to me. Did you know that repeated infections of the sinuses are thought to be the culprit behind the loss of the sense of smell in PCD patients? Researchers aren’t exactly sure why we lose our sense of smell, but the loss of the sense of smell in person has gotten a lot of attention in the post 2020 world. Did you also know when you lose your sense of smell you also experience a loss of taste or an altered sense of taste? I can’t tell you the last time I really tasted my food. This is most definitely a safety issue for those of us with PCD.

Can you imagine not being able to smell smoke as well? What if your house is on fire and you can’t see it because it’s in another part of the house? What if you can’t smell the smoke? I think that the general population doesn’t truly understand how dangerous it is to live in this world without your sense of smell. Be safe my friends!

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...