After Jimmy took a week-long hiatus from his late night talk show, he is back with his 7-month-old son, Billy with a very special message.
"I was out last week because this guy had heart surgery, but look, he's fine, everybody," the talk show host said while getting chocked up. "He may have pooped, but he's fine."
In April, Kimmel and his wife, Molly McNearney, welcomed their son, William John "Billy." At only three days old, Billy underwent his first heart surgery at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.
Three hours after Billy was delivered, an attentive nurse noticed he had a heart murmur and was starting to turn purple. The newborn was having trouble breathing and they found that Billy was born with a form of heart disease.
"Basically, the pulmonary valve was completely blocked and he has a hole in the wall between the left and right sides of his heart," Kimmel explained in a tearful monologue in May.
Six days after his first open-heart surgery, he was doing well and the family got to bring him home.
Despite the surgery being a success, Billy was supposed to have another operation when he was between three and six months old.
Originally Kimmel's baby boy was supposed to go in for surgery in late October. Unfortunately due to a cold, the surgery had to be postponed.
Last week, Billy underwent a second successful heart surgery and was well enough for his dad to bring him on the show during his first night back.
As Kimmel got choked up during the show, the host joked that "daddy cries on TV, but Billy doesn't."
During his monologue, Kimmel thanked the guest hosts who filled in for him last week while he was off taking care of Billy.
He also praised the doctors and nurses at the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles who treated Billy and other kids like him. He expressed concerns, however, that the health of programs like theirs are especially threatened right now because federal funding has run out for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Covering about nine million children whose parents typically earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough for private health coverage, the program helps families deal with the medical bills associated with their sick children.
The program is now at risk if Congress doesn't act soon.
"Which means parents of children with cancer and diabetes and heart problems are about to get letters saying their coverage could be cut off next month," he said. "Merry Christmas, right?"
He brought it home with a very real situation.
"Imagine getting that letter, literally not knowing how you will afford to save your child's life. This is not a hypothetical. About 2 million CHIP kids have serious chronic conditions."
Some states have already started to run out of funds and have been notifying parents that their benefits may end in the coming months.
"What could be more disgusting than putting a tax cut that mostly goes to rich people ahead of the lives of children?" he asked.
"If these were potato chips they were taking away from us, we would be marching on Washington with pitchforks and spears right now," he said.
Kimmel then began to plea with views to call congress and tell their representatives to fund CHIP now.
"Jam the House and Senate phones tonight, tomorrow "” as long as it takes," he said. "Tell them to take a break from tax cuts for a minute and fully fund CHIP immediately."
Since revealing his son's condition in May, Kimmel has been at the center of a health care debate, discussing the very real issues that parents face.
"Billy is doing great, by the way. He has one more surgery," Kimmel said. "They say he'll probably on track to win at least a bronze medal in the Olympics in 2036."
Did you know about the CHIP program? Share with us in the comments.
Source: CNN