When Staci Marklin was only 43 years old, she began noticing symptoms that didn’t align with her previously hyper-organized and meticulous mind.
‘I had difficulty finding words and word switching,’ the loving mom recalled to the Daily Mail. ‘I started noticing symptoms when my son was young, but figured it was postpartum brain fog.’
But this – along with some short-term memory loss and problems multitasking – eventually prompted the former nurse to reach out to her doctor.
‘I got a ton of testing done and it all came back normal,’ she said.
Marklin, who shares a 21-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son with husband Erik Marklin, then underwent further cognitive testing. Those tests revealed mild cognitive impairment, but did not flag anything overtly sinister.
But Marklin could not shake a nagging feeling.
Still worried something was wrong, she pushed her doctor to look further, suggesting an Alzheimer’s biomarker test as her grandmother had previously suffered from the disease.
She underwent blood biomarker testing and the amyloid pet scan, which came back positive, indicating she had early-onset Alzheimer’s.
‘I was a wreck, I knew nothing would ever be the same again,’ Marklin, now 47, told the Daily Mail.
Staci Marklin (pictured with her son) was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s at only 43 years old. She began noticing symptoms that didn’t align with her previously hyper-organized and meticulous mind
‘The most heartbreaking part was I knew I wouldn’t see my son grow up or watch my daughter have kids of her own,’ she continued. ‘I was pretty shocked.’
She had initially hoped her symptoms were a result of perimenopause.
Even though the possibility of Alzheimer’s crossed her mind, she said that she ‘didn’t really think [she] had it.’
Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms eventually grow severe enough to interfere with daily tasks.
Over seven million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s. By 2050, that number is projected to rise to nearly 13 million, per the Alzheimer’s Association.
Researchers believe about 110 of every 100,000 people aged 30 to 64 (about 200,000 Americans in total) have younger-onset dementia.
Marklin quit her job in December 2024 after she was diagnosed, and is undergoing an anti-amyloid treatment called Leqembi to try and slow the disease’s progression.
‘Leqembi is an infusion given every other week for 18 months,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘It is proven to lessen or remove the amyloid plaque in the brain.’
‘The most heartbreaking part was I knew I wouldn’t see my son grow up or watch my daughter have kids of her own,’ Marklin told the Daily Mail (Pictured: Marklin’s son, three, and daughter, 21)
Marklin’s husband, Erik (right), is a merchant marine. Her mother and mother-in-law take turns staying with her and the kids when he’s away for half the year
Researchers believe about 110 of every 100,000 people age 30 to 64 years, or about 200,000 Americans in total, have younger-onset dementia (Marklin pictured with her children)
Marklin said, jokingly, that she has seen similarities between herself and her young son, as ‘neither of us can regulate our emotions.’
Her other symptoms include brain fog, exhaustion and confusion.
‘When people are talking, it doesn’t confuse me, but it feels like I can’t keep up and it’s exhausting,’ she described.
‘[I think], “Did I already say this? Have I already done this?”‘ she continued. ‘I’m just all day losing things.’
The worried mom admitted she is always waiting for the ‘ball to drop’ – when she inevitably forgets where she lives or where she’s going.
‘[When that day happens,] it’s the beginning of the end,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘I feel like I’m just constantly waiting for that.’
She reflected on how she felt having to quit her job. After spending years ‘hating’ it, she now desperately misses it.
‘I feel like I don’t matter anymore,’ she said. ‘I’m not doing anything. I feel like I will just never do anything important ever again.’
While life looks incredibly different from what she originally thought, Marklin and her family are doing their best to find a way to make it work.
Her husband is a merchant marine who works away for half the year, so her mother and mother-in-law take turns staying with her and the kids when he’s gone.
‘I don’t want to be alone anymore,’ she admitted. ‘I have a very difficult time in the evening. I get anxious and agitated easily. I have a routine and I stick to it. With that and all the family support, everything is flowing well.’
She also mentioned that raising her kids – especially her younger child – is more difficult now. ‘My toddler was two when I was diagnosed,’ she said. ‘Raising a toddler while battling this awful disease is hard.’
Marklin now documents her journey on TikTok under the username tryingnottoforget. There, she candidly shares the ins and outs of dealing with the disease on a day-to-day basis.
