“The diseases and conditions you’re faced with (as you age) just pull the rug out from under your life,” said 73-year-old Marlowe Wood.
As Marlowe reflected on the life he and his wife DeAnne have built together over the past five decades, words like remarkable, adventurous, and rewarding come to mind.
Since they met and married in their early twenties, the couple has welcomed five children, lived and worked in half a dozen states and countries on two other continents including Japan and Spain.
“We never stayed in one place too long,” recalled DeAnne. And the lifestyle suited both as it opened doors of opportunity for their family to travel, learn, and socialize with people from a variety of cultures.
When Health Changes the Plan
Starting in 2013, Marlowe received several difficult diagnoses beginning with cancer and by 2020 mild dementia. They settled in the Salt Lake Valley near one of their daughters and committed to facing the physical and mental health issues that are often part of the aging process together.
"Getting old is hard because you are used to doing things you always took for granted and sometimes you can’t do those things anymore."
Marlowe’s doctors suggested the couple start seeing a geriatrician at University of Utah Health. The university is an Age-Friendly Health System, a system intentionally designed to provide safe, high-quality, evidenced-based care for older adults.
“When I first meet a patient, we might not even talk about medical issues,” says Nick Brening, MD, a geriatrician at U of U Health. “We spend most of our time getting to know each other, talking about their lives, what matters most to them, and what they hope for in the future.” Brening centers his care on what matters most to each patient.
The Woods met Brening in 2020 and have been working with him ever since. “Dr. Brening will come in to see us and he isn’t rushed,” said DeAnne. “He may have a whole list of things to do that day, but he doesn’t push us out the door. He lets us visit and talk.”
Brening loves getting to know people like Marlowe and DeAnne.
“Honestly, I feel like I have the best job in medicine because I get to sit and talk to people all day long and get to know them and their families and hear about their lives and what is important to them. And then we can figure out where they are today and how we move forward in the direction they want to go,” said Brening.
Those conversations helped Brening answer that essential question of “what matters most” to Marlowe and DeAnne. “Throughout our journey together, we have found ways to uphold what matters most to Marlowe like continuing to write, going on his annual hike to Table Rock and taking DeAnne out on Saturday nights,” said Brening.
They are regulars at their local version of “Cheers” called the HandleBar in Salt Lake City’s Marmalade neighborhood. “I can sip a beer and just talk to people,” said Marlowe. DeAnne added that “Marlowe is a very social person.”
Weekly trips to the HandleBar are not meant to be a replacement for the daily adventures that were once a part of their lives, but they are critical pieces of the new life the Woods have been building together over the past decade.
Aging often brings unexpected challenges, but it can also bring new perspectives, deeper connections, and the ability to adapt. Maintaining that sense of purpose and connection can play a critical role in overall well-being.
Adapting to a New Reality
Brening helped Marlowe apply that adaptability after a serious setback to his physical and mental health in September 2024.
“Everything changed when he had this traumatic brain injury,” said Brening. “He was biking on a path, came down a hill, and hit a sign. When he regained consciousness, that was really an inflection point.”
Marlowe’s functional skills, his cognition, and his speech were all impacted. But Brening watched his patient meet the challenge of these dramatic changes with courage, resilience, and the unwavering support of his wife.
"I have really noticed that people who do well aging are people who learn to adapt to inevitable change."
“These people embrace the change, understand it, and strive to learn how to continue to do what is important to them. Marlowe is a perfect example of this. He’s continued to write, he’s continued to be socially engaged and active,” said Brening.
DeAnne has nothing but pride for her husband’s ability to overcome tough odds. And Marlowe has embraced the process. He said, “I’m marching down the path with everyone else who is getting older.” It turns out it is normal.
Although his degrees prepared Marlowe for a successful career managing businesses both foreign and domestic, teaching and writing also became lifelong passions. After the accident, he discovered his ability to write, especially books, was seriously challenged.
Marlowe said, “I’d just sit in my chair, trying to write, but just staring at the page for hours.” So, he turned to penning poetry to express his thoughts and feelings about the seasons of his life. One called, “Amazing,” contains this passage:
“When the dawn wonders
A lady tiptoes and wanders
A cold winter by my side
The future looks so untidy.”
Holding Onto What Matters
The future might look untidy, but Marlowe and DeAnne have a daily routine to keep them busy and on task.
“Marlowe loves to keep a routine. We get up every morning and go across the street to the clubhouse to work out. Then we come home and have breakfast before Marlowe goes upstairs to write. Later, we walk and talk,” said DeAnne. “We try to focus on structure, routine, and the simple things in life with our patients,” says Brening. “But they are the ones doing the hard work of getting up and getting out there and experiencing life.”
One experience Marlowe has tried to hang onto despite the challenges of his brain injury is the hike up Table Rock near Driggs, Idaho.
The 13–14-mile round trip hike is not for the faint of heart, but Marlowe has managed it over the years with help from one of his brothers and DeAnne. And he’s planning to make the trek again this summer in July or August.
“We don’t go in June because sometime there is still snow up there,” said DeAnne. Marlowe added that “It’s 15,000 feet at the summit but up there you feel like you can reach out and touch the Tetons.”
“It’s really pretty up there,” says DeAnne. “And as long as Marlowe can keep doing the hike, we’re just going to keep doing it for him.”
Brening has observed Marlowe and DeAnne following what he calls their north star by pursuing a quality of life that aligns with what matters most to them.
“People’s values tend to remain consistent over the course of a lifetime,” says Brening. “Just because they are getting older doesn’t mean they don’t value being active or doing what they have always enjoyed.”
“By identifying what matters most to patients, we can ensure that the health care they receive aligns with what they care about.”
Meeting the Growing Need for Geriatric Care
Demand for specialized geriatric providers like Brening is outpacing the available health care workforce. To meet the needs of a rapidly growing aging population, U of U Health has developed new programs to expand care and access.
Brening explains: “We have embraced a novel training pathway that is called the Medicine Geriatrics Pathway where medical students who are interested in geriatrics apply when they are in medical school to be a part of this integrated program. They go through three years of internal medicine residency, and they are already accepted into a geriatrics fellowship.”
“So, throughout their internal medicine residency we incorporate geriatrics rotations and threads to keep the flame of interest going,” Brening continues. “It’s a way to nurture and protect that interest.”
There is no question, geriatricians like Brening are bringing an awareness of what really matters to our aging family and friends to the forefront of a national discussion. They are focusing attention on how to ensure that the later chapters of their lives are as fulfilling as the early stories.
Marlowe was already considering what his life might look like as he aged when he published his novel, Journey to Eunomia, in 2020. His main character, Uka, realizes his destiny has not, and has never been his own. Marlowe writes, “He faces the age-old question, am I molded by my past, or can I rise above it?”
Marlowe continues to show he can and will rise above the challenges life has set before him as he and DeAnne move through the second act of their lives.
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