Shannon Gilmore
Special guest
When I was 15, I woke up with eye pains. We did not know my brain was bleeding or that I had been born with too many arteries in my brain. The tangle had become too much and it simply burst insite my skull. Diagnosed as an arteriovenous malformation, I was trapped in a medically-induced coma for 3.5 weeks. That's when the hard work began - short term memory loss, a foot drag, a shake, left peripheral vision loss (that likely means I will never drive a car), and lots of frustration and anger. Not to mention a large scar and a small bald spot on my skull, luckily hidden beneath my long hair. Ten years later, I completed my MFA in Nonfiction and am still writing to figure out what happened, to regain a sense of control and to try and understand memory. I haven't written the "book" but I have a graduate manuscript that is just the beginning.
Shannon Gilmore has been a guest on 1 episode.
-
Shannon Gilmore: TBI Does Not Define This Writer
August 2nd, 2018 | 1 hr 30 mins
173rd airborne, army, arteriovenous malformation, baltimore, carleena angwin, goucher college, hero's journey, horse lessons, joseph campbell, london, maryland, memoir, memory loss, mfa nonfiction, mount st. mary's, shannon gilmore, short term memory loss, tbi, the carleena show, towson, traumatic brain injury, vietnam veteran, writing
When Shannon Gilmore was 15 years old, a tangle of arteries burst inside her skull and she was put in a medically induced coma for 3.5 weeks. Ten years after her brain bleed, she completed an MFA in Nonfiction and a thesis manuscript that is the beginning of her memoir. In our conversation today, we talk about the journey of who Shannon was before her brain trauma, who she was in the initial recovery, and who she is now.
"I think everybody has a story that matters, but you have to figure out how and why it matters. My professor in college made me feel that my story mattered and needed to be told in its truth." - Shannon Gilmore
The Carleena Show Podcast | https://carleena.net/podcast/ | Ordinary People Share Their Hero’s Journey | Hosted and Produced by Carleena Angwin | Video Editing and Graphic Design by http://stevenllorca.com/