When healing pauses: a quiet return from relapse

I had planned to share my Connecticut story with you. Instead, life asked me to slow down. Symptoms have returned, and I’m in a relapse. Healing isn’t linear—but there’s still progress and still hope.

Health Update 💜💚

I’m in a relapse.

And this isn’t the update I thought I’d be sharing with you next. It’s taken me a few weeks to find the words, and the energy, to write this.

I know I left many of you hanging after my posts leading up to my first day of treatment in Connecticut—and I want to acknowledge that. It wasn’t intentional. I had every hope of continuing to share in real time.

In fact, I was so excited to show you the videos and journal entries from that trip. I even made a whole schedule to roll them out! But instead of following that plan, I had to surrender—once again—to what my body was asking of me.

✨ Surrender.

It keeps finding its way into every chapter of this story. I’ll share more about that lesson soon.

For several weeks now, I’ve been in a relapse. That means symptoms I had managed for a while have come back in full force: fatigue, pain, headaches, tachycardia. My energy has dropped significantly, and with it, the cognitive clarity and executive function I had started to regain. When my body crashes, my brain follows.

This illness continues to show up in waves. A dear friend called it a sawtooth experience, and it’s the most accurate description I’ve heard. Progress and setbacks, again and again.

Some days I can move about with relative ease, and other days I don’t have the strength to get out of bed. When the fatigue deepens, it takes much more than just physical strength—it touches every part of me.

If the downturn is short, we call it a crash. When it lingers, we call it a relapse. My last major relapse stretched from August 2022 through February 2023. This one began shortly after returning from Connecticut in February of this year.

What’s important to say is: the treatments worked. I made meaningful progress—cognitively, physically, and emotionally. I truly felt a shift while I was there. And I will still share more about those details, because they matter. But right now, I’m navigating the next wave.

Dr. Rose, who continues to guide my care, is now also treating me for remitting and relapsing mitochondrial dysfunction. She added peptides and a few other therapeutic supports, and I’m already noticing some small but encouraging signs of improvement. Her wisdom, especially of medicine at the cellular level, is a gift I don’t take for granted.

I’m hopeful that with this added care, I’ll begin to climb again. Slowly, gently.

As I’m able, I’ll continue sharing updates about where I am now—and when the time feels right, I’ll bring you along through the Connecticut experience that I had so wanted to tell you about.

Thank you, truly, for continuing to walk beside me. Your support and love remain a source of strength, especially in moments like these. I feel you with me.

With love always,

xo Ang 💚💜