Race for Our Kids 2019-Meet Lily King
Over a year ago, 9-year-old Lily King began experiencing nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain that was so severe she didn't have an appetite for her favorite foods and couldn't do her favorite activities. Her mom, Amanda, was getting daily calls from the school nurse as Lily's symptoms 
worsened. Eventually, she started missing school and falling behind in her academics.
At one point, Lily had lost six pounds in one month. Frustrated with the lack of immediate answers from her pediatrician, Lily and Amanda turned to pediatric gastroenterologist Dr. Sana Mansoor at the Herman & Walter Samuelson Children's Hospital at Sinai. Dr. Mansoor was attentive, caring and thorough. She took Lily's symptoms seriously and carefully explained everything to Lily and Amanda.
Lily underwent an endoscopy and lots of other testing to find out what was causing her condition. There to walk her through the entire process was child life specialist Kelly Beck.
"Having Kelly there to ease Lily's anxiety made such a difference," Amanda says. "She was so good and made such a scary situation so comforting."
Lily's tests came back normal, but Dr. Mansoor determined that she had a functional gastrointestinal disorder and quickly put her on the right medications.
Today, Lily is one pound shy of her normal weight and is slowly adding her favorite foods back into her diet. She is especially excited that she can eat ice cream again.
A fourth grader, Lily is now back at Brunswick Elementary School. She hopes she won't have to miss days or spend time in the school nurse's office anytime soon. Her favorite hobbies are drawing, painting and playing basketball. She loves to ride her bike, dance and play outside with friends. She also enjoys taking her dog, Belle, out for walks and spending time with her two younger brothers. Her favorite foods are ice cream, pizza, spaghetti and strawberries.
Lily and Amanda are thankful for the attentiveness and care provided by Dr. Mansoor, Kelly Beck and all the nurses at Sinai.
"We've been in the right direction now for a couple of months," Amanda says. "If we hadn't gone [to Sinai], I don't know where we would be today."
Support Lily and other young patients at the 15th annual Race for Our Kids on Sunday, Oct. 6.