Like many family members of the newly diagnosed, sisters Theresa Bates and Mary Park, wanted to know what to expect when they were told their mother had dementia.
But as their mother's condition continued to deteriorate they soon found out what they were told about dementia was far different from reality.
"When mum was diagnosed we went to one of the large dementia organisations and the lady that came out was great but she was really young and I don't think she had ever actually lived through someone diagnosed with it," Mary said.
"There wasn't a lot of information on what to expect as the disease progressed.
"When mum hit another milestone of the disease we didn't know, no one told us they could get different behaviours - Different people with dementia become different people."
We watched our mum disappear literally in front of your eyes so if we can help other people understand and educate that would be great.
- The Dementia Support Network of WA fundraising chairperson Mary Park
Seeing the mum they once knew disappear before their eyes, Theresa started The Dementia Support Network of WA to help other families navigate the turmoil that comes along with dementia.
"I found that there was a full university degree on dementia care, and I enrolled," she said.
"I started a business as a dementia educator, giving talks in libraries and private organisations, which led to being engaged to conduct family consultations to provide advice and support for those travelling this same journey.
"This is where The Dementia Support Network of WA was developed - Whilst I didn't charge a great deal for my services there were many people, I came across that purely didn't have the ability to continue to use my services after one visit so I continued to work with them free of charge."
Theresa and Mary are now hoping to raise funds to support families impacted by dementia by selling raffle tickets for a Harley Davidson worth $21,500.
Raffle tickets are $5 each with the second prize being $2000, and the third prize is $1000.
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Mary said the money will go towards providing goods and information to people who have a family member with dementia.
"We can purchase different things to put in the house down to small items like a whiteboard on the fridge to help people remember," Mary said.
"We hope to get them to understand what is going to happen to their loved one because we didn't know what was going to happen down the road.
"We watched our mum disappear literally in front of your eyes so if we can help other people understand and educate that would be great."
To buy tickets visit, The Dementia Support Network of WA website or call Mary Park on 0427 351 171.
