Alzheimer’s: Oklahoma principal slowly lost memories of his wife and daughters
BY HEATHER WARLICK-MOORE
Comments 
1
Published: October 20, 2009
When Mark Howard started becoming absentminded and forgetful, he was 43, principal of Chandler Junior High School and the school’s beloved baseball coach who wore the number 22 on his team jersey.
This photo, taken March 1, 2008, shows, Randee, Mark, Melody and Karlee Howard. Mark Howard died from younger onset Alzheimer’s disease March 14, 2009. Photo provided
Multimedia
He would forget simple things such as where he had left his keys. Doctors thought he was experiencing depression or attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder and prescribed him several different drugs to try. But none helped.
Within a year, Howard’s symptoms worsened, and he started telling his wife,
Melody Howard, "I think maybe I’m going crazy. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
Four years later, Mark died from Alzheimer’s disease.
Mark was 47 when he died, far younger than most people who die from Alzheimer’s disease. More people are being diagnosed at a young age than ever.
"One in eight Americans over 65 has Alzheimer’s,” said Mark Fried, executive vice president of the
Oklahoma chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Of more than 5 million Alzheimer’s patients in the
U.S., 10 percent have younger onset of the terminal disease that is the seventh leading cause of death in America.
There is no way to stop the progression of the disease. The Howards witnessed this first-hand.
When Mark’s symptoms progressed, doctors said they weren’t sure what was going on but suspected it was either younger onset of Alzheimer’s or a form of dementia.
"They told us we would just have to wait and see,” Melody said.
The couple’s daughters realized something was wrong with their dad during a family vacation in 2006 during which the family stayed together in a condo for a week.
"We had to say, ‘Dad, this is the bathroom,’ over and over and over,” said
Randee Howard, 19.
"His speech was slurred ... It was an interesting vacation,” said
Karlee Howard, 15. But the girls didn’t yet realize how ill their dad was.
When the family returned home, they knew they needed some answers, so Melody and Mark traveled to
Jacksonville, Fla., to the
Mayo Clinic. Doctors there confirmed that Mark was probably suffering from Alzheimer’s. Genetic tests confirmed that Mark carried the Pre-insulin 1 gene, the inherited gene that predisposed him to the disease.
"My girls have a 50-50 chance of inheriting that gene,” Melody Howard said.
That’s when the couple broke the news to their daughters. The girls were shocked — all they knew of the disease was that they had seen their paternal grandmother die a terrible death from it.
For several days, the girls stayed home from school, crying and trying to come to terms with the fact that their father was dying.
Before becoming ill, Mark told his daughters he loved them every night before bed.
"Daddy doesn’t tell me he loves me like he used to,” Karlee remembers telling her mother.
It wasn’t long before Mark had to give up his job at Chandler Junior High. He needed 24-hour care and was becoming increasingly violent and confused.
Moments of clarity were becoming few and far between for Mark. He rarely recognized his daughters and sometimes didn’t even recognize his own reflection in the mirror. He was admitted to a nursing home.
His last Christmas, when his daughters walked into the nursing home to visit him, Mark said, "You girls are so beautiful.” Then he was "gone” again.
Throughout his ordeal, Melody said her husband maintained his sense of humor much of the time, joking with nurses and other patients at his nursing home. But nothing can combat the deteriorating affects of Alzheimer’s. In March, Mark developed pneumonia that was more than his body could handle. He died March 14.
The Howards want to share their story to bring awareness of younger onset of Alzheimer’s disease. As
Miss Northern Oklahoma College, and in the Miss Oklahoma competition, Randee’s platform was "Early Onset Alzheimer’s Awareness.” She hopes that one day, the color purple will be as recognizable for Alzheimer’s awareness as pink is for breast cancer.
"I think it needs to be out there that early onset Alzheimer’s is not a disease of just the elderly. It’s becoming more and more prevalent,” Melody Howard said. "It’s like a death sentence you are given.”
Leave a Comment
Life Photo Galleriesview all
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).
http://acaiforcemaxreviews.wetpaint.com