How An LVAD Turned Heart Failure Into Extra Time

I’m sitting down with my father-in-law, Terry Krupp, a man who survived multiple heart attacks and then hit the moment most of us never truly imagine: left-side heart failure, a terrifying diagnosis, and a blunt choice from a heart-failure specialist. Surgery or hospice. Terry is alive today because of an LVAD, a left ventricular assist device, and he doesn’t treat that as a tragedy. He treats it like extra time he has to earn.We trace the full arc that led here: small-town Michigan, older parents, Vietnam-era decisions, and a career that “unfolded” from music and electronics into electrical engineering, then into sales leadership and high-stress management. He talks candidly about what managing people taught him, how constant pressure can become normalized, and why setting boundaries matters more than most of us admit.Then the story turns toward caregiving, grief, and survival. Terry shares what it was like to care for his wife Joanne as her cognitive decline became impossible to ignore, and why caregiver burnout is so dangerous. We also dig into the day-to-day reality of living with advanced heart failure technology: batteries, spare parts, sleeping plugged into the wall, and learning to accept what you can’t control while still choosing your outlook.If you’re searching for real talk on LVAD life, heart failure recovery, caregiver stress, resilience, faith after crisis, and building community as you age, this one stays with you. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs hope, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway: what would you do differently if you knew you’d been given extra time?We'd Love Your Feedback