FARMINGTON Getting back to good health after a heart attack or surgery is hard work. Just ask any of the patients who show up three days a week at the Huckstep Heart & Lung Center, for rehab therapy. The therapists at Huckstep Heart & Lung Center, located at Parkland Health Center in Farmington, like to show their patients how fun fitness can be.

They recently celebrated their progress with a Cardinals Day. Patients wore their St. Louis Cardinals t-shirts, jerseys and hats, and enjoyed healthier options to stadium food. Turkey franks and baked chips were served for lunch, along with healthier snacks, including peanuts, while the St. Louis Cardinals faced the New York Mets for a day game in New York.

The patients really enjoyed rooting on the Cardinals that day, while they exercised, said Kathy David, RN, BSN. We had the game on for the patients to watch while they worked, and with all of our patients cheering them on, we like to think its not a coincidence that the Cardinals won the game, Kathy quipped. Before and after the game, patients worked out to baseball music.

Its difficult to say who enjoys the themed days at the Huckstep center more the patients or the staff.

The Huckstep Heart and Lung Center, part of Parkland Health Center offers medically supervised programs for people with heart disease or breathing disorders that help keep them from losing function and remain in control of their lives. The staff is specially trained and is highly credited in their fields.

The Center was opened in 1994, in memory of Dr. Robert Huckstep. Dr. Huckstep envisioned a center in which heart patients could receive assistance in returning to a normal and active life. Later the vision was expanded to include respiratory therapy services. The Center provides cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services to approximately 250 patients each year.

Parkland Health Center is part of BJC HealthCare which also includes St. Louis Childrens Hospital and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the teaching hospitals for Washington University School of Medicine. For additional information about Parkland Health Center, please call (573) 756-6451 or the physician finder service at (573) 431-3338 or visit http://www.parklandhealthcenter.org.

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Fitness health can be fun at Huckstep Heart & Lung Center