August 2010 Pennie had an Aortic heart valve replaced (had to be done before she could be on the list for a kidney) it was a pig valve, and it started sticking. 9 months later she had to have surgery again to get it replaced since it wasn't functioning properly. They put a mechanical heart valve, but had to put her on blood thinners to keep the blood thin enough for the mechanical valve.

In April 2014 she got a kidney transplant. A young healthy kidney from a 14 year old boy that was in an ATV accident. She was on dialysis for about 5 years before her kidney transplant. In 2019 she got a bacteria infection in her blood, and was hospitalized at St. Francis.

May 29, 2020 Sam and Kyle couldnt get ahold of their mom, which was worrisome because they would talk multiple times a day! Family was everything to her, especially her 3 grandkids! So Sam and Kyle drove to her apartment, to check on her. Her dog, Max, was barking when they were pounding on her door...but no answer. So they took the screen off the window and climbed through.

They found her unresponsive on her couch. They called 911, and 1st responders showed up. Her blood sugar was 527, and they got her to talk a very little bit. She did say she thought she was in Hiawatha Hospital. They took her to the hospital-and they said that she had internal bleeding, and they life flighted her to KUMC. KUMC did a bunch of tests on her, but didnt give Sam and Kyle much information that night. So they called back in the morning, and they said she had a bacteria infection in her blood, and she was on IV antibiotics.

They then told the Kids that she had 2 strokes in the early morning hours. 1 massive stroke that paralyzed her right side, and a mini stroke. She was sedated- so she wasn't responsive. They called us that evening ‪around 8:30‬ and said that she had blood on her brain, and they needed to go in for surgery or she would die. They called Sam and Kyle ‪around 10:30‬ when surgery was completed and said that if she didnt wake up in 48 hours then she probably never would. And if she did wake up then she may not even know who anybody is, and that she would have to go live in a nursing home because she wouldn't be able to do anything for herself, and partially paralyzed.

That was tough to hear! She never did wake up, or respond like she was supposed to. They told us that by the 2nd day she should be awake, and move her head, and her arms, and legs....she didnt do anything, but lay there asleep. The ventilator was doing 100% of the breathing...Sam, Kyle and family and friends prayed and prayed for a miracle. 1 week and 1 day after her surgery Sam and Kyle had to make the toughest decision of their lives...they had to take her off the ventilator. On Sunday, June 7th at 4:50pm they took her off life support. She passed away Tuesday, June 9th at 1:17am

The Dr. at kumc said the bacteria clung onto her mechanical heart valve and everytime it opened it flicked bacteria all over her body. The Dr. said Pennie wouldn't make it through surgery to replace the heart valve again

At the time of her death Pennie was divorced and struggling to work with all of her health issues to pay her bills. Due to her health life insurance was not something she could afford.