Race for Our Kids 2019-Meet Aamani Pinder
Twelve-year-old Aamani Pinder's life changed forever on Jan. 15, 2019.
That day, Aamani woke up in severe pain and was having trouble breathing. She was brought to the Herman & Walter Samuelson Children's Hospital at Sinai, where a team of doctors and nurses ran tests and gave her shots. She was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Aamani's pediatric oncology doctors-namely Dr. Yoram Unguru, Dr. Jason M. Fixler and Dr. Aziza Shad-have provided attentive care with exceptional kindness since her diagnosis. Dr. Unguru has been there for Aamani and her family from the beginning, easing any uncertainty and assisting them throughout the process. "He's helped me a lot," Aamani says. "He always finds a way to solve all of my problems."
Aamani has been on homeschooling since January. She FaceTimes her friends on the iPad the hospital gives her during her inpatient admissions. She has become friends with other kids her age at Sinai through group outings such as trips to the movies and ice-skating excursions.
Aamani is naturally creative and loves coloring and scrapbooking. During her treatments, she likes creating art with art therapist Danielle Eichner and pediatric art therapy assistant Peyton Kirkendall. Through the Child Life Program, Aamani gets "bucks" for difficult challenges such as her chemotherapy treatments. Most recently, she used her bucks to obtain a huge Lego set.
In her free time, Aamani loves to play with her 9-year-old sister, Aaniya. Together, they play board games and card games such as War and UNO. They also love watching movies (especially Disney musicals) and listening to music together and painting each other's nails.
With help from her mom, Latavia, Aamani likes to cook breakfast for her family. Her favorite things to make are pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage and oatmeal. When she's at Sinai, she likes to play Cooking Diary Restaurant Game on her iPad with her mom.
Latavia says all of the pediatric oncology doctors, nurses, and child life specialists have been especially accommodating and compassionate throughout these trying months. "Faced with the challenge of finding out her diagnosis, [Sinai staff] have been more than helpful," Latavia says.
Aamani and her family are looking forward to taking part in the 1-Mile Family Fun Walk at the 15th annual Race for Our Kids on Sunday, Oct. 6 and spending the day with everyone at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore afterward.