TV personality and home renovation expert Ty Pennington has had a whirlwind of a week. First, he was walking the red carpet at the “Barbie” movie premier. Then, just two days later he was in the hospital. The lesson he learned from all of this was not to ignore unusual symptoms, especially symptoms that don’t go away.
Pennington turned to Instagram to explain the unexpected health ordeal and how he’s doing now. He shared that he had a sore throat for about a month, and he apparently didn’t think it was serious and didn’t due anything about it. Then, two days after the “Barbie” premier, he “woke up at 4am and could barely breathe.”
At the hospital, Pennington found out what was causing his sore throat. He explained, “Turns out, that sore throat I’ve had for the last month was actually an abscess which had grown so large it was closing off my airway.”
An abscess is full of puss, is painful to the touch and can occur almost anywhere on the body. An abscess can be cured by being drained, which they sometimes do on their own, but other times a medical professional needs to drain the abscess, such as in Pennington’s case.
Pennington explained, “I was intubated and flown to the ICU in Denver. Wednesday I had surgery and yesterday afternoon I was released from the ICU.”
Along with the long explanation about his recent health scare, Pennington also included multiple pictures to show him at the “Barbie” premier, in the hospital and apparently feeling much better. Pennington also gave a shout out to the medical staff who helped him and left his fans with the message “LISTEN to your body when it’s telling you something.”
Many of Pennington’s fans turned to the comments to wish Pennington a quick recovery and to share their concern that he apparently ignored a sore throat for an entire month. One comment reads, “Hopefully you’ve just prevented this for many others who will now know to ask their doctors to check. I’m so happy to see you back on tv/HGTV. Heal well and fast!”
Pennington is best known for hosting home makeover shows like “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Trading Spaces” and “Battle on the Beach.” His most recent TV project is “Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge” in which a home in California is transformed to look like the Barbie Dreamhouse.
