Jimmy Kimmel announced Monday that his youngest son underwent successful open-heart surgery over Memorial Day weekend at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA).
The comedian, 56, posted a sweet photo of his son Billy, seven, smiling sweetly as he lay in a hospital bed as he shared the health news.
“This weekend our boy Billy underwent his third (hopefully three) open heart surgery,” Kimmel wrote in his lengthy caption.
“We approached this experience with a lot of optimism and almost as much fear and came away with a new valve inside a happy, healthy child,” he continued.
Kimmel first revealed in 2017 that his then-baby son had his first heart surgery, prompting him to advocate for health care and insurance reform.
Jimmy Kimmel announced Monday that his youngest son underwent successful open-heart surgery over Memorial Day weekend at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA).
The comedian, 56, posted a sweet photo of his son Billy, seven, smiling sweetly as he lay in a hospital bed as he shared the health news.
Kimmel praised the doctors at Billy’s, led by brilliant surgeon Vaughn Starnes, cardiologist Tim Casarez and the excellent and hard-working doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners at CHLA, including but not including Suffice it to say, Misty, Ann, Sylvia, Dana, Caleigh, Nick, Bekah, Julie, Kenny, Caroline, Lisa, Stephanie, Ellize, Ivy, Pam and Carrie demonstrated immeasurable kindness and expertise.
The late-night host called it a “humbling experience” to meet other “vulnerable” children and their parents, as well as the “miracle workers” who are doing their best to “save” the young patients.
Kimmel made sure to praise his wife Molly “for being stronger than is reasonable for any mom,” and praised young Billy as “the toughest (and funniest) 7-year-old ) that we knew”.
“There are so many parents and children who don’t have the chance to return home after five days,” he added. “Please share your love, heart and prayers with them…”
The comedian tipped his hat to the late Sen. John McCain, who was the leading vote to defeat a bill that would have gutted the Affordable Care Act during the Trump administration.
He also stressed that the health law “largely” allowed CHLA to accept young patients, regardless of their financial capacity.
Kimmel has spoken about his young son’s heart condition in the past, including in an emotional speech in 2017, shortly after Billy’s birth.
Just three days after Billy’s birth, Kimmel announced on his show that the little boy would need open heart surgery for his congenital heart condition, tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia.
This congenital condition is thought to affect approximately 0.02 to 0.04 percent of the population, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
According to the Institute, tetralogy of Fallot is the most common complex congenital heart disease.
Kimmel hailed his son Billy as “the toughest (and funniest) 7-year-old we know”; they are photographed together in December 2022 in Los Angeles
Kimmel made sure to praise his wife Molly McNeary “for being stronger than is reasonable for any mom,” and praised young Billy as “the toughest (and toughest) 7-year-old funny) that we knew”. photographed with McNeary, Billy and his daughter Jane in 2018 in Los Angeles
The disease includes a constellation of heart defects, including a narrowing of the pulmonary artery, a defect in the ventricular septum, a misalignment of a blood vessel carrying oxygen-poor blood that sends blood directly into the aorta rather than to the lungs, where it can again bind to oxygen and a thickened right ventricular wall.
The disease is much more serious in children who also have pulmonary atresia.
In these cases, the pulmonary valve, which opens and closes to move blood from the heart to the lungs, is blocked by tissue, although some blood can still pass from the heart to the lungs through other routes smaller, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Babies suffering from this condition often have visible symptoms, including blue or grayish skin due to a lack of oxygen. They may also have difficulty breathing or become exhausted easily, and eating may be difficult.
Revealing his son’s condition, Kimmel explained, “Basically, the pulmonary valve was completely blocked and he has a hole in the wall between the left and right sides of his heart.”
During his impassioned speech, he added: “If your baby has to die, and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much you earn. »
But he also spoke about Billy on a lighter note.
‘Poor kid. Not only did he have a bad heart, he had my face,” he joked.
Kimmel advocated for reforms to lower the cost of health insurance and medical care just as the Republican-controlled Congress was debating a bill to repeal the ACA in 2017. The effort was ultimately scuttled by three Republican senators, including McCain.
The late Arizona senator was indifferent in the days leading up to the vote, but his iconic thumbs-down ended the attempt to repeal the ACA.
In May 2017, after Billy’s first open heart surgery, Kimmel explained on his show how Billy’s heart condition was discovered shortly after his birth.
“He seemed like a normal, healthy baby,” he began. “My wife was in bed relaxing, a very attentive nurse at Cedars-Sinai heard a murmur in her heart and noticed it was a little purple, which is not common.”
“(Doctors) determined that he was not getting enough oxygen in his blood, either in his heart or in his lungs.” They did an x-ray and his lungs were fine, which meant his heart was not. It’s a terrifying thing,” he continued. “They found out Billy was born with a heart condition.”
In addition to Billy, they share a nine-year-old daughter, Jane, and Kimmel has two adult children – Katie, 32, and Kevin, 30 – from his first marriage to Gina Maddy from 1988 to 2003; seen in 2018 in Los Angeles with Billy, Jane and his wife Molly McNeary
Just three days after Billy’s birth, Kimmel announced on his show that the little boy would need open heart surgery for his congenital heart condition, tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia; Billy pictured aged seven months in December 2017, after his second operation
We hope Billy’s third operation will be his last. When Kimmel announced his heart problem, he advocated for health care and insurance reform amid the Republican Party’s attempts to repeal the ACA.
Kimmel’s subsequent updates have been positive, and in December 2017, he brought seven-month-old Billy on the show and announced that he had undergone his second open heart surgery.
By the way, Billy is doing great. He still has surgery – it’s unbelievable – he had surgery a week ago. It is said that he will probably be on track to win at least a bronze medal at the 2036 Olympics,” he announced.
Kimmel was married in 2013 to Molly McNeary, who serves as executive producer and co-writer of his show Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
In addition to Billy, they share daughter Jane, aged nine, and Kimmel has two adult children – Katie, 32, and Kevin, 30 – from his first marriage to Gina Maddy from 1988 to 2003.
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