What I Learned while Comatose in Peru

I'm calling it. You are going to the Emergency Room, my friend decided.

Without hesitation, I agreed, and on February 27, 2025, I was admitted to the ICU in Cajamarca, Peru. This was day one of a 17-day coma and 35-day hospital stay that included being life-flighted by medevac to another hospital in Lima, Peru, after going septic.

It didn't take long to decide to participate in the 15-day Peruvian Shamanic Retreat. I had read accounts of other doctors who took similar journeys. I wanted that story!

What would I experience?

What new awareness would I gain?

How would I honorably incorporate the indigenous practices into my own?

I was excited and immeasurably curious about the growth and transformation that would undoubtedly transpire.

Three days into the retreat, my body showed signs of illness. I felt feverish, tired, and achy, and the pain in my head was relentless. Ibuprofen and Tylenol became my best friends. We didn't sleep well due to the carnival going on 24 hours per day that week, and I pushed myself more than I normally would. After all, I paid for a transformational experience, and I didn't want to miss anything. That night, our shaman held a Wachuma plant medicine ceremony, which I participated in, taking only half a dose. He assured me that the strain of medicine used would help with cleansing my body.

During the ceremony, our shaman called each of us up to the altar for individualized guidance. When it was my turn, he indicated that my energy was clean and bright, but there was something blocking me. And you know exactly what it is, he stated with a smile. In fact, I did know. After the somatic clearing, the Wachuma plant medicine told me that the release of doubt would feel like I was dying, but on the other side, everything would change. Of course, I had no idea of what was in store, but I surrendered to the process like I had done countless times in the past few years since being diagnosed with Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia.

Three days later, I found myself in a hospital bed with an oxygen mask attached to my face because my oxygen saturation was a dismal 27%. By the end of the day, I was in a coma. The story of what transpired over the next 17-20 days is only known to me from other people's perspectives. My internal journey was radically different. However, what I do remember after awakening from the coma is that the poison of doubt was nowhere to be found in my mind or body. The state of being I felt was heightened to a level I could only experience for brief periods of meditation and deep focus. I was transformed!

The rest of the 35-day hospital stay included ensuring that I could function without machines, a liquid nutrition diet, or a high level of support for daily functioning. Although I was discharged in a little over a month, the staff was extremely surprised by how incredibly fast my body healed. For perspective, I left the hospital dependent on a walker, and three weeks later, my body walked two miles without it.

This entire experience has truly been a miracle!

The main takeaways from the entire experience validated many previous knowings: