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The next step

Tonight is the next step with my new pills – it’s time to double the dose. For the first week I took one pill three times a day, and this evening we bumped up to two pills with each dose. The next installment of Pirfenidone or placebo also arrived via Federal Express today. Each bottle seems to be a week’s worth of medication. The smaller bottle has the dose for the next week, and then in a week we step up to three pills three times a day.

Today I felt pretty good, so I wonder what will happen next. I even went for a nice long walk this evening. Fall is slowly coming. The days are shorter, and the weather is much more tolerable for me. The highs are in the upper 70s and there’s almost no humidity in the air – perfect! I didn’t even get very out of breath on my walk, which I think has more to do with the lack of humidity than anything else.

I’m looking forward to winter. I want to be able to drink hot tea, eat soup, and not be miserable. I’m ready for the fall leaves and the crunching sound they make under your feet. I’m ready for brisk mornings that make you feel alert and alive. I’m not, however, ready for the snow plows to pile the snow up on the sidewalks because everyone knows no one would ever need to walk when there’s snow out! I love snow – but that’s the one thing about winter I don’t like much.

Fall, however, is like spring – a perfect time of year with perfect weather.

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