Ty Pennington Recovering from Surgery After an Abscess was 'Closing Off My Airway': 'I Could Barely Breathe' - PEOPLE

Ty Pennington is on the mend after a big health emergency this week.

On Friday, the HGTV star, 58, posted a series of photos on Instagram of himself in the hospital, revealing that he was in the ICU after developing an abscess that required surgery.

"From the red carpet, to the ICU… this last week has been interesting!" he began his caption. "I'm okay now, still recovering but I felt it looked weird that I hadn't posted about my teams #BOTB VICTORY!! 🙌🏼 SO freaking proud of @smashingdiy & @iamstevelewis !! Will post about that next ðŸ¤"🥳."

"To shed some light on why I was MIA… Sunday I hit the red carpet for @barbiethemovie, Monday I flew to Colorado to start filming in Breckinridge and Tuesday morning I woke up at 4am and could barely breathe 😰," 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. Next thing I know, I was intubated and flown to the ICU in Denver."

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Ty Pennington in the ICU.

thetypennington/Instagram

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An abscess is a buildup of pus that can affect any part of the body. When a part of the body becomes infected, the immune system tries to fight it. White blood cells travel to the infected area and build up within the damaged tissue, leading to inflammation and causing a pocket to form, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Internal abscesses are typically treated under anesthesia where a doctor will use a catheter to drain the abscess.

Pennington shared that he had surgery for the abscess on Wednesday and was released from the ICU Thursday afternoon. As he focuses on his recovery, the Rock the Block star urged his followers to pay attention to their health.

"Thank you so much to all the amazing staff at St.Anthony's in Lakewood, CO & Summit Health in Frisco for taking such a great care of me 🙏🏼🙏🏼" he ended the post. "A great reminder to LISTEN to your body when it's telling you something 😳😅 #justhappytobehere."

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