Emmy Award-winning television host, designer and carpenter Ty Pennington has built his career remaking homes, but his most personal project began when his mother needed him to become her caregiver.
“It’s funny how we flip roles,” Pennington told USA TODAY of being a caregiver to his mom, Yvonne.
Earlier this year, he described how the role restored years of time he missed out on with his mom when he was working on his television career.
The role reversal carries an almost too-perfect echo of Pennington’s television work. On ABC’s EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION, he helped adapt homes for families facing disabilities, cancer and other hardships; in Florida, he brought that same care home by building house for his mother with fewer stairs and ramps.
Yvonne has dealt with respiratory trouble since Pennington was a child, but doctors did not diagnose bronchiectasis until about 20 years ago. According to Insmed, the condition damages and widens airways, allowing mucus to collect and making infection and breathing trouble more likely.
Yvonne lived with unresolved symptoms for more than 40 years before receiving the diagnosis. Her long wait prompted Pennington to speak publicly about both the disease and the family member’s view from the next room.
Related: HGTV Host Ty Pennington Wants to Live ‘to the Fullest’ After Near-Death Experience
“The child becomes the parent, in many ways,” Pennington said during a CBS MORNINGS appearance. He described arranging his home to help his mother relax and stay calm.
On CBS MORNINGS, Pennington added a shared calendar for medications and happy events, a wall of family photos, soothing music and a monitor that lets a caregiver hear a nighttime coughing fit. Softer flooring can also make a slip less punishing — a small change with a big dose of common sense.
“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,” Pennington told TV Insider. He recalled that television travel once meant seeing her only around Christmas, while caregiving has returned the ordinary time they missed.
Her laughter can trigger the coughing that bronchiectasis brings, a cruel catch for a woman her son describes as deeply funny. Still, their time together includes family stories and jazz, and Pennington keeps the focus on helping her feel comfortable rather than treating the home like a hospital.
Pennington is now a paid spokesperson for Insmed’s Suspect Bronchiectasis educational campaign, which encourages people with recurring respiratory symptoms to speak with a pulmonologist about whether further testing makes sense. The partnership gives his private caregiving chapter a public purpose, but he keeps the message personal.
“Watching my mom cope with breathing challenges, hospital visits, and the uncertainty of not always knowing what was going on had a big impact on our family,” Pennington said in Insmed’s announcement. He hopes other families will ask deeper questions instead of accepting unresolved symptoms as normal.
For Movieguide® families, his story offers a powerful reminder: caregiving rarely arrives with a tidy blueprint, but love gets wonderfully concrete. Sometimes it looks like a ramp, a brighter room, a favorite record — and the grace to show up when the family roles flip.
Read Next: Ty Pennington Shares Emotional Update After Prayer Request
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
