Amanda Deans: all about the people

We continue our journey around the motu, meeting each region’s Youth and Type 1 Coordinator. In this issue, we meet Whakatū Nelson local, Amanda Deans.

It’s not unusual for a region’s Youth and Type 1 Coordinator to also be a parent of a child with type 1, and Amanda Deans is no exception.

After her son’s diagnosis, Amanda says she jumped right on board with getting involved with the then-Nelson branch, joining in with all the activities and support on offer. After a year of involvement, and becoming well-known around the branch, she says she was approached by the volunteer team to see if she’d like to take on the newly vacated role of area coordinator. ‘I jumped at the chance’, she says.

Before Amanda had anything to do with diabetes, she worked as a food safety microbiologist, doing a number of food safety tasks, including testing food before it was released to the public, or for export, to microbiological safety standards.

When children came along Amanda’s work/life balance needed to change. ‘It wasn’t an easy job to have with young children.’

Asked what she most enjoys about her job as Youth and Type 1 Coordinator, she quickly replies, ‘The people. It’s all about the people, not just the children with diabetes but their entire families.’

She says she and the volunteers have great relationships with the wider whānau. ‘We are expanding our reach to adults with type 1 diabetes in the community as well, forming some really great relationships there.’

Amanda has been Youth and Type 1 Coordinator for Whakatū for nearly four years, her region covering the Nelson Tasman district and beyond. ‘We’ve recently expanded to Marlborough, and people from the West Coast are invited to our events. Technically, they fall under Canterbury, but some will choose to come to the Nelson camp, some will choose to go to the Canterbury Camp. We’re here if they need us.’

Growing up in Westport gives Amanda her passion for making sure isolated communities don’t miss out on support.

Amanda Deans with her husband Jonathan and children, Tate and Lucia.

INTRODUCTION TO DIABETES

Amanda understands what it’s like to be faced with having your child suddenly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. ‘It was such a shock. We had our suspicions but never expected them to be confirmed.

‘Tate had really classic symptoms. He got thirsty and he started using the toilet more, and while we didn’t notice him get thinner we did notice he didn’t gain any weight. But the extremeness of the thirst was just so fast. We really noticed the change over just a week.’

Five years on, Amanda says that now life just goes on. ‘We check everything, we still count carbohydrates, still dose for all food. We’ve changed our technology to manage diabetes multiple times over five years. But from then on, you don’t have any choices. You just have to do it. Once you know diabetes is there, there’s no option to wait for treatment. You begin, you jump in, that’s it – your life has changed. Some days, we still feel like one of the new families, depending on who we’re talking to. And other days, we feel like we’re the old hands who have it all under control.’

At camp, Amanda briefs the big kids before they head out to lead an activity with the little ones.

FORGING CONNECTIONS

Part of learning how to deal with your child’s diagnosis can be connecting with others who are in the same boat, and Amanda is keen to offer opportunities. ‘It’s important for us to provide events and activities for the whole family to get together. So not just for the children with diabetes, but their siblings and their parents and caregivers too. As parents ourselves, we know what difference it makes to us to be able to speak to other parents and even for our daughter who doesn’t have diabetes herself to get together with other siblings.’

Nelson recently had a family outing to a gaming arcade in Blenheim, their first since including Marlborough in their catchment. ‘We had over 30 people register to come, which was a great response for our first activity day. I’d never actually been, but my kids had and they loved it.’

Teen interests are covered as well, with a number of activities a year specifically set aside for rangatahi. Amanda says this time gives them the chance to be independent in their diabetes management. There they can talk about things they wouldn’t necessarily talk about with their parents around. It's also important for them to have downtime fun, be in each other’s company, and build peer-to-peer relationships.

Amanda may be the only one on the payroll, but she says she wouldn’t be able to do her job without the support of her volunteer base. She credits them with coming up with the ideas for activities, as well as the hours invested in fundraising. ‘Our volunteers are great. We’re a diverse group of people with a diverse range of ages of children as well, so it’s a great sounding board for different activity options that might suit different children. We’re trying to encompass the needs of as many as possible.’

WAKA AMA

Amanda is especially pleased with an activity from last summer. ‘One of my biggest highlights in terms of events would be our waka ama regatta last year in November. We joined up with a local club, Maitahi Outrigger Canoe Club, and they came and met us at the beach with their waka.’ The club played games and took everyone out on the water for races.

‘It was a lot of fun. I’m pleased I got out there in the end. I wasn’t sure about getting into a waka myself, but I loved it. It was a real highlight for Nelson Youth and a great way to incorporate managing diabetes, the heat, the water, and an activity that is out of the ordinary.’

ULTIMATE BOWLING CHAMPIONS – NORTH VS SOUTH

Diabetes NZ Nelson Youth went head to head with Diabetes NZ Bay of Plenty/Lakes Youth, battling it out for the top spot. In an excruciating finish, Nelson won 111 to 110.