Finding Joy in Oklahoma: A New Chapter in Life

Posted on May 11, 2026 by alifeofmentalillness

Yesterday was Mother’s Day here in the US. Had a good, long chat with my mom. She’s enjoying retirement and getting to be grandma to my brother’s kids. I don’t talk to her as often as I used to, but our conversations are still good.

Here in Oklahoma, the Thunder are the talk of the entire state. I started following them after moving here in early 2023. It’s fun to have a strong team to follow again. Reminds me of following Nebraska Husker football when I was a teenager back in the 90s.

Lost 20 pounds since April 1. Been eating mostly protein lately, namely eggs and pork for breakfast. Even though a good portion of my freedom is gone, it’s good to have three hot meals a day, easy access to healthcare, and more stability than I have had at any point in my life.

I am now cured of sleep apnea and anemia. First time in several years I haven’t had either one. I am also down to only one blood pressure medication per day. I’m doing well enough mentally that I take only two psychiatric medications per night.

Most of my arthritis has cleared up. I still take Tylenol twice a day, but I think the weight loss has taken some of the stress off my joints. I still have backbone pain from a football injury in high school.

I have found that dealing with mental illness, at least for me, has gotten easier now that I don’t deal with the public anymore. Most of the people I deal with I know pretty well. Overall things are going much better than I could have imagined when I first moved to Oklahoma three years ago.

Posted on May 9, 2026 by alifeofmentalillness

Thoughts on Upcoming Graduations and Future Possibilities

Been in My New Home for Eight Months. May 6th, 2026, Updates

Posted on May 6, 2026 by alifeofmentalillness

It’s been a minute since I last wrote about my personal life. I lost 20 pounds in the last month after holding steady for over three months. I’ve lost 100 pounds in the last eight months. I’m now down 180 pounds since summer 2024. That was when my water retention was at its worst.

Lost enough weight that I no longer have sleep apnea. Haven’t used a CPAP machine for two months. My blood pressure has stabilized enough that I only take one blood pressure medication. The water retention problems are gone too.

I still deal with arthritis. Mainly in my knees but it doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as six months ago. Over the winter I had bad arthritis in both hands and both elbows. I have since gotten that taken care of. I still have a lot of pain in my tailbone from an old high school football injury that never completely healed.

Made a few friends in here. All of them are staff members. I’m especially close to this Hispanic lady who works the afternoons, a Philippine immigrant nurse who works afternoons, a chatty red head who works mostly weekends, and a grandmotherly like lady who works mornings.

Don’t have friends among the patients. Most patients are either mostly negative or have dementia. I just don’t want to be affected by that kind of negativity anymore. Spent too much of my life around irritable and rude people. I refuse to put up with it anymore.

Got glasses during the winter. I can read and see much better now. Don’t have much for physical books other than an old Bible, but I do have lots of audio files on youtube and amazon.

Been watching a lot of documentaries on YouTube. Mostly for economics, history, and geopolitics. Think I’m going to get back into science and futurism. I also listen to a lot of suspense voice over stories on YouTube. Some are actually pretty good at falling asleep to. And I often dream about the stories when I do sleep with the audio playing.