Nevadans?

[pigtail21]

Beautiful, Julie! I've wondered if any of my birds are SQ. I know I think they are... but I'm very fond of all of them.

Thank you! I know I have been there too. Actually I have several breeders mentoring me and they have helped me so much. I ask lots of questions at the shows especially after the judge is done to find out specifically what is good or not so good. But I am with you, they are all winners in my book!!

Maybe we should do our own little show here with pictures?(maybe it has been done already and I missed it) Something to keep us occupied this winter HAHA!! If you are seriously interested I will take a look at pictures, I just need side views and head closeup if possible. (I love looking at pictures of birds!)

 

[Peep_Show]

How soon do you need the help? We don't have church on Sunday the 11th, so I could bring the whole Fam up to work, if that isn't too late.

this sounds like a barn raising!

 

[americanvalkyrie]

this sounds like a barn raising!

That's the way to do it! If you can't swing a hammer, bring refreshments.

 

[Peep_Show]

that's going to be a cool show with all those pretty birds. Nice job!

- - - -
(TMI time... don't read if squeamish)
I am out of my benadryl haze....truly a "wasted" weekend in every sense of the word.

Had the CT scan on Thursday and they said the side effects might be a slight headache, metal taste and a rash. Very slight headache on Thursday night and a metallic taste in my mouth.
Well, on Friday morning when I woke up I was so puffed up that my eyelashes were coming out from under my so-puffy-they-were-slanted lids. Now I have an idea what Dee-with-Downs-Syndrome would look like. (Sorry. Not very PC, but it was kind of amusing) And my upper lip was really puffed up, kind of like the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz. My color and tone was definitely off. Luckily I just had an in-and-out Certificate of Nonappearance to do, so I could go home, medicate and hide. Then during Friday day the rash developed. First a few spots and then flatout fleabit-horsecoat coverage melding into just me being a lovely shade of bright pink.
Saturday morning I woke up to tiny 100 pimples/pustules on my face. (The insidious stuff was trying to work itself out however it could). Ugh!
By Sunday it was subsiding and today I just have a patch of rash at an armpit. Did copious bactine-as-astringent swabbing on my face and today did a sugar scrub to get rid of all the dry skin before spackling my face and heading off to work.

So I guess I'm allergic to the iodine, which I think is interesting considering I could eat oysters and shellfish all day long. I need to let the docs know this the next time I go get one of these (hopefully NEVER) so they can dose me with steroids and benadryl beforehand OR use some other medium.

I did get to see the CT scan.... I have a really cute skull! Couldn't see anything odd that screamed sinus tumor or bad patch, so I will anticipate the ENT knocking that off the list of why my smeller is wacky. (Thus far docs have ruled out renal failure and diabetes out of the eight reasons a la internet it could be...and a course of antibiotics helped a bit, but did not eliminate the problem if it's sinus infection related) It -- my sense of smell (and, ergo taste) -- is most bizarre. Intermittently either it is totally absent (great for dieting; horrific for a foodie and killed my hobby of restaurant critic and recipe recreator), or it is out of alignment (i.e. peanut butter tastes like ammonia, chocolate is vile and I haven't had a good cup of coffee in two months because it tastes like old cardboard) or it is hallucinatory, i.e., I smell something that nobody else does, which would be kinda fun if it were roses or baked cupcakes or something other than very burnt and rancid. However, on occasion I can enjoy NORMAL smell and taste, although my palate is kind of dulled compared to what it used to be.

So what's left? It could be hereditary (Mom lost her sense of smell at age 30 but claims it was due to a dental accident); it could be menopausal hormones; it could be too many vitamins; it could be bad dental work (although earlier this month the hygienist didn't comment on anything); it could be a brain tumor (I have no headaches, though) or -- I am hoping and praying it is not -- an early sign of Parkinsons, which would be cruelly ironic in its timing considering I'm dealing with Mom and her issues around end-stage Parkinsons right now. So we're (docs and I) knocking out all the possibilities one by one. And, then again, I could just be one of those weird people who have lost their sense of smell and taste, which if I were to have to cherry-pick one of my senses to lose would probably be the one I'd pick as I cannot see much of a future for a blind or deaf court reporter and to lose one's sense of touch could prove quite hazardous.

On the bright side: I can eat a habanero and not even flinch! And, think of it, cleaning a chicken coop wouldn't faze me!

 

[Rural Chic]

that's going to be a cool show with all those pretty birds. Nice job!

- - - -
(TMI time... don't read if squeamish)
I am out of my benadryl haze....truly a "wasted" weekend in every sense of the word.

Had the CT scan on Thursday and they said the side effects might be a slight headache, metal taste and a rash. Very slight headache on Thursday night and a metallic taste in my mouth.
Well, on Friday morning when I woke up I was so puffed up that my eyelashes were coming out from under my so-puffy-they-were-slanted lids. Now I have an idea what Dee-with-Downs-Syndrome would look like. (Sorry. Not very PC, but it was kind of amusing) And my upper lip was really puffed up, kind of like the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz. My color and tone was definitely off. Luckily I just had an in-and-out Certificate of Nonappearance to do, so I could go home, medicate and hide. Then during Friday day the rash developed. First a few spots and then flatout fleabit-horsecoat coverage melding into just me being a lovely shade of bright pink.
Saturday morning I woke up to tiny 100 pimples/pustules on my face. (The insidious stuff was trying to work itself out however it could). Ugh!
By Sunday it was subsiding and today I just have a patch of rash at an armpit. Did copious bactine-as-astringent swabbing on my face and today did a sugar scrub to get rid of all the dry skin before spackling my face and heading off to work.

So I guess I'm allergic to the iodine, which I think is interesting considering I could eat oysters and shellfish all day long. I need to let the docs know this the next time I go get one of these (hopefully NEVER) so they can dose me with steroids and benadryl beforehand OR use some other medium.

I did get to see the CT scan.... I have a really cute skull! Couldn't see anything odd that screamed sinus tumor or bad patch, so I will anticipate the ENT knocking that off the list of why my smeller is wacky. (Thus far docs have ruled out renal failure and diabetes out of the eight reasons a la internet it could be...and a course of antibiotics helped a bit, but did not eliminate the problem if it's sinus infection related) It -- my sense of smell (and, ergo taste) -- is most bizarre. Intermittently either it is totally absent (great for dieting; horrific for a foodie and killed my hobby of restaurant critic and recipe recreator), or it is out of alignment (i.e. peanut butter tastes like ammonia, chocolate is vile and I haven't had a good cup of coffee in two months because it tastes like old cardboard) or it is hallucinatory, i.e., I smell something that nobody else does, which would be kinda fun if it were roses or baked cupcakes or something other than very burnt and rancid. However, on occasion I can enjoy NORMAL smell and taste, although my palate is kind of dulled compared to what it used to be.

So what's left? It could be hereditary (Mom lost her sense of smell at age 30 but claims it was due to a dental accident); it could be menopausal hormones; it could be too many vitamins; it could be bad dental work (although earlier this month the hygienist didn't comment on anything); it could be a brain tumor (I have no headaches, though) or -- I am hoping and praying it is not -- an early sign of Parkinsons, which would be cruelly ironic in its timing considering I'm dealing with Mom and her issues around end-stage Parkinsons right now. So we're (docs and I) knocking out all the possibilities one by one. And, then again, I could just be one of those weird people who have lost their sense of smell and taste, which if I were to have to cherry-pick one of my senses to lose would probably be the one I'd pick as I cannot see much of a future for a blind or deaf court reporter and to lose one's sense of touch could prove quite hazardous.

On the bright side: I can eat a habanero and not even flinch! And, think of it, cleaning a chicken coop wouldn't faze me!

Sorry to hear of loss of smell, but it is good to see your looking on the bright side too. Hope all is goes well and it is not caused from anything terribly bad. Good luck and God Bless.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Dee, sorry to hear about the hard times! But I agree that, if I had to lose a sense, I'd pick smell as well. All of my talents use my hands and my eyes, so losing either of those would involve a massive readjustment. My older sister's first ex-husband lost his sense of smell in a logging accident. Sometimes I'd forget and comment on the bread I was baking, and then apologize, but it didn't bug him anymore. He commented that, if he could, he'd trade any of his senses to get his smell back. That made me think, because I often don't realize how much of a blessing it can be to smell baking bread or a rose. Having had all of my senses for my entire life, I wasn't even in a position to judge which would be harder. But on the upside, my sister liked wearing a certain men's cologne, and her then-husband didn't mind because he couldn't even smell it.

 

[NevadaRon]

that's going to be a cool show with all those pretty birds. Nice job!

- - - -
(TMI time... don't read if squeamish)
I am out of my benadryl haze....truly a "wasted" weekend in every sense of the word.

(snipped for brevity)

On the bright side: I can eat a habanero and not even flinch! And, think of it, cleaning a chicken coop wouldn't faze me!

Sorry to hear about your troubles, Dee! Constant allergies have pretty much negated my sense of smell but not completely. Sometimes it is a blessing though - as you point out, not all smells are good!

Just throwing it out there, but were you ever a user of the Zicam nasal gel cold remedy? The reason I ask is they took it off the market because people were complaining of losing their sense of smell and taste after using it. Presumably other zinc-based cold remedies would have the same issue.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Sorry to hear about your troubles, Dee! Constant allergies have pretty much negated my sense of smell but not completely. Sometimes it is a blessing though - as you point out, not all smells are good!

Just throwing it out there, but were you ever a user of the Zicam nasal gel cold remedy? The reason I ask is they took it off the market because people were complaining of losing their sense of smell and taste after using it. Presumably other zinc-based cold remedies would have the same issue.

I miss Zicam! I never noticed loss of sense of smell, but I noticed that it knocked out most of my potential colds when I just plain had to work.

 

[NevadaRon]

I miss Zicam! I never noticed loss of sense of smell, but I noticed that it knocked out most of my potential colds when I just plain had to work.

I do too - it was excellent! I contacted the company and apparently the problems I mentioned were due to people not following the directions. The directions would tell you not to sniff it into the back of your nose. The new lozenges do work (better than nothing anyway), but not nearly as well as the nasal gel did!

 

[Peep_Show]

Hmmmm.... Interesting....

I've never used Zicam, but I do take a zinc supplement. Perhaps I'll discontinue it and see if it helps.

For nipping colds in the bud and general overall wellness I use Wellness Formula by Source Naturals. I take a pill a day and lots more if illness is imminent. It really works when you feel a cold or something coming on and I like the fact that it's herbal. Several of my friends are now whole-hearted subscribers to it and, save and except for a nasty 3-week hack that neither my husband nor I could shake in July, it has been a godsend. (BTW, sense of smell gone before that lengthy cold, but I'm sure all that drippage didn't help)

At this present time it seems like the volatile oil smells are wonky... Had to throw out my favorite floral perfume because it was making me nauseous. Doping up coffee with flavored creamers seems to help (sweet definitely is still on the palate, but bitter is decidedly off-kilter), but I know it still isn't quite right flavor-wise. (But is that going to deter me from my morning java fix? Nooooooo)

It's an adventure, to be sure, as each day is different and it is sometimes comical what my olfactories are telling me vs. reality. I'm pretty sure that Costco isn't filled with poo, but I could not escape that smell!