Party the calories off

So the resolution is made. Time to get fit, but where should you begin?

How about combining fun with friends and a party with sweating off some of those Christmas cookies or champagne from New Year’s Eve?

On Friday, Jan. 15, Texas Health Fitness Center HEB will host a Friday Night Cardio Party. The event, which will feature belly-dancing, will run from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and costs only $5.

“This is a great event for friends looking to support each other in the new year and improve their health,” said Mike Lofland, director of the Fitness Center. “Exercise is crucial to one’s overall well-being, but that doesn’t have to mean logging tons of miles on a treadmill or climbing a stair machine till your legs are on fire. It’s important to find a fun way to exercise because that will help you stick with it.”

For more information on the Fitness Center, log on to www.texashealth.org/hebfitness or call 817-267-9191.

Merry Christmas!

Oncology nursing supervisor Tammy Quattrochi donned Mrs. Claus attire and delivered gifts to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hurst-Euless-Bedford oncology patients Tuesday afternoon.



Quattrochi said that her goal in purchasing the gifts was to put a smile on the patients' faces. "It did put a smile on their faces so it accomplished what I wanted to do," she said afterward.




She was assisted by elf, and oncology nurse specialist Jenny Ellis, R.N.

Bringing Christmas to cancer patients

For Tammy Quattrochi it really is all about the patients.

Earlier this month, the registered nurse was awarded the nurse of the year award by the Fort Worth Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society. But the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford nurse didn’t go out and buy a Christmas present for herself or even use the money to pay off Christmas bills. Instead, she decided to buy Christmas presents for her patients.

Originally, Quattrochi said she thought about hiring someone to come in dressed as Santa Claus to deliver presents, but she ultimately decided it would be fun to dress up and visit with the patients on the 13-bed unit herself.

As a nursing supervisor on the unit, colleagues say Quattrochi is frequently quick to pitch in when other nurses can’t come in.

And it isn’t just within Texas Health HEB’s walls. Quattrochi often attends the annual Bluebonnet Retreat for adult cancer patients, participates in community fundraisers like Relay for Life and assists with community screenings. Also, she currently is participating in the University of Texas at Arlington’s RN to BSN program.

But for those oncology patients who face Christmas away from home and in the hospital, Quattrochi is simply a caring nurse going above and beyond her duties to make them smile.

Check back this afternoon for photos of Tammy delivering the Christmas presents!