Help Support Blake Suzelis' Critical Care in Lima, Peru

Hi,

As many of you know that Blake is a world traveler following his spontaneous remission of leukemia and other health issues he had a few years ago. He has since had an attitude of living life as if tomorrow may never come, living his dreams, and questing to find his connection to community, the earth and himself.

Blake and his partner Kayla and myself (Julie Rickard) were recently invited to join a group of spiritual questers going to Peru to follow the Shaman Walther Vera around three regions of Peru while they filmed parts of a documentary he is working on. The goal was to be immersed in the Peruvian culture and experience first hand the life of multiple Shaman's across Peru. To live like a local and see the areas of Peru that travelers generally don't see.

The trip was to be 21 days and started on Feb 18th to March 11th. The trip was to cover three different regions of Peru and started on the coast in Tucume', then moved to the Andes in Cajamarca, then the Amazon in Pucallpa, and finally on their own after the 6th in Miraflores.

Blake started the trip with a slight cough. He generally was good and other than the cough seemed healthy and well. He looked good and had gained some much needed weight over the months.

At the point of going to the Andes, the cough was more persistent and we knew that he was starting to not feel good. By the time we arrive, he had a fever. The fever struggled to go away for any period of time. He was not one to take medication or see doctors especially in a third world country. He stayed in bed the next day for the morning. He rallied and then the following day was weak and feeling dizzy. He was having issues with breathing. The altitude is 9000 feet, so we figured this was the issue. By day 3 he was getting up to do something and continuing to complain and then would go back to lay down. On day 4, February 27 he was not doing well, was very weak and looked gray. He previously stated he didn't want to go to a clinic. He finally stated that he needed to go to the hospital or clinic.

Walther and Kayla took him to the best clinic in the area. He was at 25% oxygen at that time. With some basic oxygen they could get him up to 50%, but without oxygen it would go back down. The doctor stated that if had waited one more day he would have died. The suggestion was that he had to be intubated in order to survive. He was transferred to the hospital and placed in ICU and put on life support. He was diagnosed with pneumonia and altitude sickness. He was put in a medically induced coma. His oxygen levels started to rise by the next day. Hope was present. However, in order for Blake to receive care, Kayla had to pay S20,000 soles and that was put on a credit card.

Kayla went to work quickly on the list the hospital provided of medical equipment and medicines she needed to pick up to provide to the hospital. A very different system than in America. She was able to find most things.

The next day he was diagnosed with sepsis. He had the start of kidney failure and his body began to swell. The hospital doesn't offer dialysis. They don't have an understanding of what type of infection is in his lungs due to the lab tests not being available for 4 days from an outside lab, which is likely 8 hours down the mountain.

Kayla and Blake's family then started to work on transferring Blake to the Miraflores Hospital in Lima, Peru so he could be at a critical care hospital. There are lots of steps involved in transferring someone from ICU to a receiving hospital. The doctors must communicate. Blake must be stable. The paperwork must get completed at both hospitals. Money must be paid for the transition and the initial stay. It must be air transport as the drive is 18 hours or more due to the roads.

Kayla has worked diligently with Blake's family to make everything fall into place. Though, as of today and this writing, the transfer was stopped due to Blake's instability with breathing. The hospital has changed antibiotics and his foley to ensure there were no issues. We are days into this and we still don't know the type of infection which informs the type of treatment.

While there is a lot of hope and people surrounding him in a shroud of light, we NEED your help. We need YOUR HELP to pray and send light to Blake and his healthy return to his children, family and Kayla. If able, we also NEED your financial support to help Kayla manage her stay in Peru while also paying for day to day expenses along with her funding initial medical expenses and supplies until this part of the journey can shift.

Please consider donating even small amounts would help.

Thank you for your support!

Julie Rickard