Jimmy Kimmel announced a short time ago that his son Billy had to undergo his third open heart surgery of his young life. Now that he has completed the procedure, Jimmy is back with updates on how the little guy is doing. Here is what Kimmel said about his son’s condition following the major surgery.
Jimmy Kimmel Gives Update After Son’s Surgery
Jimmy Kimmel has been open about his son’s illness and the struggles the boy had to fight through to this point. Shortly after Billy’s 2017 birth, Kimmel said that Billy, 7, was born with a rare congenital heart defect. Billy’s official diagnosis was “tetralogy of fallot with pulmonary atresia.” This means his pulmonary valve was blocked. There was a hole in his heart.
Since that time, Billy has now had three open heart surgeries. His first surgery took place when he was just three days old. This surgery for the child, who just finished kindergarten, is his third, and Kimmel said that he hopes it will be the last for the child.
The good news is that Billy’s third surgery went well. “He had open-heart surgery; you know he’s got the scars and everything, but he’s just mentally right back where he was, which is crazy,” Kimmel said (via Entertainment Tonight).
Kimmel said that he has to be careful with Billy for the next couple of months, but he is doing well. “We went into this experience with a lot of optimism and nearly as much fear and came out with a new valve inside a happy, healthy kid,” Jimmy said.
Is Jimmy Kimmel Leaving Late-Night Television?
Jimmy Kimmel seems very thankful that Billy’s third surgery went well. He also said he hopes this is the last one Billy will need. However, there have been strong rumors lately that he might be ready to leave late-night television to spend more time with his family.
Kimmel’s contract comes to an end soon, and there are rumors that he won’t resign. He previously said in an interview as much. “I think this is my final contract,” Jimmy said at the time. “I still have a little more than two years left on my contract, and that seems pretty good.”
According to other reports, Jimmy Kimmel and his wife, Molly McNearney (a co-head writer for his talk show), might be ready to step away and spend more time with their son as he grows up. However, there is still time to see if Kimmel plans to stay or go.
Please send your best wishes to Jimmy Kimmel and his son Billy as they continue to heal. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Shawn S. Lealos has been a freelance writer for over 25 years and is a voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He is also a published author with a book about the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers.