We will try to keep you updated as we have information.
5/31/2007 - Thursday
Adam came out of surgery around 1:30PM; he will remain on the respirator the rest of the day. The procedures went well:Arm grafts are both doing extremely well and continue to heal.
Skin graft was done on the forehead
Fingers were pinned together on both hands. Outlook here is still uncertain. He will likely lose the ends on some or all of his fingers; however, the doctor was hopeful that he will be able to keep parts of each finger and the fingers would not have to be fused together.
The buttock area was responding well to treatment, indeed doing better than the doctors had anticipated. No additional tissue removal was required and the area continues to heal.
Colostomy procedure was successfully performed.
Echocardiogram was done of the heart. Cardiologist will review and advise. There was a slight buildup of fluid around the heart but does not appear to be serious.
Leg wounds were cleaned/flushed; orthopedics said they may pin leg(s) next Tuesday.
Abdominal cavity was examined and they saw that a small section of the intestine was bruised; they were not too concerned about this as any major problem in the bowel would have appeared well before now.
Adam has a slight case of pneumonia which is being treated; doctors want to get Adam off the respirator as soon as possible to help fight pneumonia risk.No more surgeries are planned until next Tuesday.
We hope this will give Adam some time to rest and recover from all that has been happening.
Dear Faculty or Staff Member, Administrator or Poultry Industry Member
First, we are making this information available online because we want to make sure you are aware of what has happened in the life of one of our friends. As you may or may not know, Adam Watkins, son of Phil and Susan Watkins was severely injured in Iraq on duty with the Army. The military has transferred him to the Brooks Medical Center (Burn Unit) in Ft. Sam Houston, Texas (in San Antonio) to treat his severe and extensive burns and injuries, which include compound fractures to both of his legs, and this is likely to be a very long-term recovery process.
Dr. Susan Watkins, a poultry extension faculty member at the University of Arkansas, and her husband Phil Watkins, an employee at American Electric Power Company, are currently in San Antonio with Adam.
Thankfully, the ARMY is taking care of many of their living current expenses while they are there, including housing and meals. There is also an organization (Miles for Heroes) that is helping the Watkins (as they do other families of injured military personnel) with donated air miles for to help accommodate any necessary trips back and forth that the Watkins' need to make.Second, some of you may want to know what you might do to help. This is going to be a tremendously long recovery process and Adam will need his family's help.
Military support organizations tell us that over the coming weeks, months and years the Watkins family is likely to incur some expenses that are not covered by the ARMY. Therefore, the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science has set up a fund at Arvest Bank in order to help Phil and Susan with non-covered expenses related to Adam's treatment that the Watkins will incur.
This account will be used by Phil and Susan for discretionary purposes. If you would like to make a contribution to the fund, you may do so by donating at any Arvest location. Please specify "The Adam Watkins Account" when making your contribution. The family will be able to access the account on an as-needed basis.
Third, if you would like more information on how you or your company can donate to the Miles for Heroes airline miles program, please see below. This is an excellent idea and the miles are used by military folks and their families in just these circumstances. Although we cannot specify for our donated miles to be given directly to the Watkins family, you can help other families in need, and this organization is already helping Phil and Susan. Thank you for your help!
Walter G. Bottje
Department Head
Center of Excellence for Poultry Science
http://www.fisherhouse.org/programs/heroMiles.shtml
Hero Miles Program Information
http://www.fisherhouse.org/programs/heroMiles_FAQS.pdf
Hero Miles Frequently Asked Questions - Adobe PDF
Hero Miles - How to Donate Miles
With your support, we have provided nearly 10,000 tickets to Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom hospitalized service members and their families, worth more than $12 million (average savings per ticket is currently about $1,300). Thank you to all of the donors who have so generously donated their miles and our airline partners who have agreed to match the miles donated during the Memorial Day weekend.The mile-for-mile match by our airline partners is now suspended; however, you can still donate your frequent flyer miles to Fisher House Foundation.Support like yours allows us to continue caring for our wounded Heroes and their families.
AirTran Airways
http://www.aplusrewards.com Donate A+ Rewards credits online (requires login and password). Select the "request rewards" link and enter the number of A+ Rewards credits to donate under "Fisher House Hero Miles."
OR Call 1-888-3-APLUS-8
Alaska Airlines
Call Mileage Plan @ 1-800-654-5669 Have account information available OR https://www.alaskaair.com/mileageplan/ssl/Donate/DonateMiles.aspx Donate miles online
American Airlines
Email full name, AAdvantage Account Number, Number of Miles to donate, phone number, and email address to mailto:HeroMiles@aa.com OR Send a fax to 817-963-7882 using the form found at http://aa.com/heromiles
Continental Airlines
https://www.continental.com/web/en-US/apps/onepass/donate/donateMiles.aspx Donate miles online (requires account number and PIN) OR Contact OnePass Service Center at 713-952-1630 OR Written Request - requires account number and PIN, if no PIN include copy of Driver's license or passport
Delta Airlines
Call Delta SkyMiles 1-800-325-3999. Have account information available OR go to http://www.delta.com/skymiles/use_miles/donate_miles/skywish_charities/index.jsp
Delta Donation Website - Use the "Donate by e-mail" link to mailto:delta.bids@delta.com Fill in form with SkyMiles number, name, and phone REMEMBER to include in the body of the email you would like miles transferred to Fisher House Foundation Specify the number of miles to donate - Then SEND
Frontier Airlines
Call EasyReturns desk at 866-263-2759. Have account information available
http://www.frontierairlines.com/frontier/who-we-are/community-assistance.do
Midwest Airlines
http://www.midwestairlines.com/MAWeb/(0kddpinzhz4qtp55vfhntlac)/myAccount/useYourMiles/donateMiles.aspx Donate miles online. Fill in simple form - then SUBMIT
Northwest Airlines
Call 1-800-327-2881. Have WorldPerks Acct # and Pin available OR http://www.nwa.com/cgi-bin/wp_donate_aircares.pro Donate miles online
United Airlines
Call 1-800-421-4655. Have account information available http://secure.ualmiles.com/MP051116.jsp
US Airways (now merged with America West Airlines)
http://www.usairways.com/awa/content/dividendmiles/purchasemiles/donateMilesForm.aspx Donate Miles online
Be sure to fill in the bubble beside "Fisher House Foundation-Hero Miles" Complete the rest of the form - then SUBMIT
Directions for Donating Credit Card Frequent Flyer Points
Call your credit card company to determine which airlines they allow you to convert points to miles with.Compare credit card list with Fisher House "Hero Miles" airline partners currently accepting mileage donations, convert points to miles through credit card company.
You must have a Mileage Account with whichever airline you are going to donate the miles to. If you need to set up a new account with one of the airlines it can be done directly through their toll free number. Each airline partner has a specific process to donate miles - information is available above.
Tax Deduction Information
The Internal Revenue Service does not recognize donations of frequent flyer miles as tax a deduction since taxes were not collected from individuals when they earned the miles. For further information, we suggest that you consult IRS Publication 526 and/or your personal tax advisor.
Confirmation of Donations
To protect donor privacy, mileage donation information received by Fisher House "Hero Miles" includes only number of miles donated and date donated. Written confirmation is issued by each airline in the form of an updated periodic account statement that will reflect new mileage balance after donation.Thank you for your kind gift of miles for our "Hero Miles" program. Support like yours allows us to continue caring for our wounded Heroes and their families.© Fisher House? Foundation, Inc. | (301) 294-8560 or (888) 294-8560 | mailto:info@fisherhouse.org
1401 Rockville Pike, Suite 600 | Rockville, MD 20852
Fisher House Foundation is a not-for-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code
