Introductions and Purpose – A.H. Browning

About Me

I am a guy who lives in Georgia and I write under the pen name,
A.H. Browning. After living through distressing consequences of diseases including cancer and Parkinson’s, I struggled to find something to help me process and make sense of my experiences.

In an attempt to put words to thoughts and emotions I did not know how to express verbally, I discovered that writing gave me an outlet. Writing offers me a way to work through some of my more painful and frustrating moments with disease and with life in general.

To my surprise, the initial results of my writing was poetry, or should I say something which I hope at least resembles poetry. Soon after completing my first poem, “Sleepless Night“, I found that I really enjoy communicating my thoughts through writing.

Writing, to Remember and Understand

I find writing very satisfying for personal reasons. First of all, writing allows me to name and confront some of life’s more disturbing or discouraging moments. Beyond that, writing provides other benefits as well, such as a way to remember and process moments from my life.

I appreciate the process of writing, because it gives me a method in which I can attempt to express, remember and understand life’s more profound experiences. Writing also provides a way to explore my more elusive thoughts and emotions. I write about assorted topics, but often topics for which I have an emotional connection.

Sleepless Night and Of Hopes and Dreams were the first two poems I completed.
The Poems, Etc. menu will take you to the list of everything I post.

Personally and surprisingly, I’ve discovered the act of writing can be very powerful and healing. Writing can be happy, sad, humorous, thoughtful, introspective and many other things. It continually proves to be, “just what I need” at any given moment.

An Idea

In 2017, I had an idea. I wanted a place to share some of my experiences, some of the things I have written, and also a place to explore various topics that have been on my mind, including disease. I decided to create the website ahbrowning.com for these purposes.

Cancer and Other Diseases:

Although I have never been diagnosed, I have personally witnessed the ravages of cancer, including some of the diverse and numerous challenges and losses that are possible from this disease. I have also seen firsthand, the life-changing effects of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. My journey in life has included family, relatives and friends who have struggled and lived with these and other diseases.

Every day, I continue to feel the impact that different diseases have had on my life. Disease is part of my desire to write.

I Need to Understand

Cancer has taken several people out of my life. Most recently, my mother became a casualty after a difficult journey that began when she was diagnosed in 2014.

Alzheimer’s brought changes and losses to my grandfather that were painful and difficult to watch as the disease progressed.

Parkinson’s disease complicated and slowly destroyed my father’s quality of life. Furthermore, Parkinson’s progressed to the point where his symptoms became a significant contributing factor to his death.

My Search For Answers

In recent years, I have become considerably more interested to find information and answers; more driven to understand the diseases that have touched my life. Foremost, I wanted to have a better understanding of diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Additionally, my own diagnosis with an autoimmune disease sent me hunting for information.

For the diseases that have impacted me personally, I need to understand and find answers to questions such as:

What exactly is this disease? – ( cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, etc.)
How is this disease acquired?
How has this disease been treated in the past and how is it currently treated?
What are the most hopeful treatments for a specific disease?
How have other people dealt with symptoms, problems, losses or complications?
What guidance or support is available for someone diagnosed with a specific disease?
Concerning research, what is currently being pursued and what is most promising?
What are the best options to fight a specific disease or manage / lessen the symptoms?
Can this be cured?

A Place to Share

This website is a place where I hope to unpretentiously share some of my journey. It is a place to divulge some of the questions I’ve asked, as well as some of the answers and information I’ve found. Maybe you’ve asked some of the same questions. Maybe you’ve found similar or different answers.

My desire is just to share, not to presume to be right or wrong. Beyond these desires, I also wanted a place to share some of my creative writings, in the Poems, Etc. section.

Thank You

Finally, I am not a doctor and I do not work in the field of medicine; I am not qualified or intending to personally offer any medical advice. My only desire is to share my experience. To that end, you will find links throughout this website to information I have found enlightening or beneficial on a personal level. The links in this website are designated by underlined text.

At the end of the day, this is a very personal endeavor for me. Thank you for taking time to look around. I hope that something shared or discussed here will be meaningful to you.

A.H. Browning
November 1, 2017