What To Know
- Ty Pennington exclusively opened up about his role as a caregiver for his mother, Yvonne, who was diagnosed with bronchiectasis.
- The HGTV star opened up about his mother’s health struggles and how his caregiver role has brought them closer.
- Pennington is currently raising awareness for respiratory health through Insmed’s Suspect BE campaign.
Ty Pennington is known for his role on home renovation shows, but his most important role is the one he plays off-camera for his mom, Yvonne.
In an exclusive interview with TV Insider, the HGTV star opened up about serving as his mother’s caregiver. “My mom has been dealing with respiratory issues for almost as long as I can remember. She was diagnosed with bronchiectasis almost 20 years ago. But for nearly 40 years, we weren’t even sure,” he shared. “She basically had COPD and asthma. But what’s kind of crazy is sometimes you may have something more than you even realize. And so, what I didn’t realize is that my mom actually had bronchiectasis.”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, bronchiectasis is a respiratory condition in which “damage causes the tubes in your lungs (airways) to widen or develop pouches.” As a result, it becomes more difficult to clear mucus from the lungs, leading to pain and infections.
“If you have symptoms that seem to keep coming back, if you get lung infections [and] they don’t go away, then that’s when you definitely should see a pulmonologist,” Pennington noted. “With my mom, that was the situation because you really want to find out what exactly you have.”
The Rock the Block host said he looks at lung health the same way he looks at a house, explaining, “If there’s something wrong with it, you don’t necessarily want to paint over it. You want to look behind the walls, check the foundation, take a deeper look, and talk to an expert that can tell you what’s going on.”
Pennington is raising awareness for bronchiectasis and overall respiratory health through Insmed’s Suspect BE campaign. “We’ve got a campaign called SuspectBE.com, which is really advising people,” he shared. “If the symptoms keep coming back, if they don’t seem to be getting better, then maybe get a CT scan, talk to a pulmonologist, and just find out what’s going on.”
Serving as his mother’s caregiver, Pennington said, has brought the two closer over the years. He even built a house for her in Florida so he could look after her and make things “easier” for her.
“There were so many years I was on television that I really only saw my mom once every Christmas, so basically, one time a year,” he recalled. “There are lots of drawbacks, but I think the big plus to being a caregiver is you really get closer to them again, and my mom is one of the funniest humans I know. That’s what’s crazy, she starts laughing too hard, she starts coughing. And so, you almost don’t want her to laugh, but it’s her best quality. … It just sucks that when you have a condition that makes you cough when you laugh, it’s like it takes the joy out of life.”
Pennington continued, “My mom, that’s why I think she inspires me, because she does find the joy in life. And I think laughter is the key to life. That’s why we want to constantly laugh about it. But yeah, living with her is never a dull moment, that’s for sure.”
Rock the Block, Mondays, 9/8c, HGTV