Anitra Mostacero was an over-achiever. She joined the Air Force at the age of 19 and rose the ranks to become a Senior Master Sergeant. Along the way, she earned a bachelor’s degree, an MBA and several certifications.
But at the age of 42, she found herself sitting in her car, wondering how to turn it on. “I remember being very confused and thinking, ‘what am I doing here? How do I do it?’ ” says Mostacero, now 46. “That’s when it really dawned on me that I’m having moments of lapsing memory.”
Mostacero would eventually learn that she had early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, which affects between 5 and 10 percent of all Alzheimer’s patients. Early-onset is typically defined as showing symptoms before the age of 60. For young patients like Mostacero, early-onset is a devastating diagnosis that happens in the prime of their lives.
Her Difficult Diagnosis of Early-Onset Alzheimer's
Before her diagnosis, Mostacero tried to navigate around her lapsing memory. At work, she created binders that reminded her how to do different tasks. She sometimes missed meetings, and she made mistakes that both her commanding officers and subordinates quietly covered for her.
