Why Was Jimmy Kimmel’s Son Billy’s Second Heart Surgery Postponed?

Jimmy Kimmel’s 6-month-old son, Billy, won’t undergo his second heart surgery this week.

On Monday, it was announced that other celebrities will be filling in as host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” while Kimmel tends to his son who has common cold. The celebrities who will be taking over the show include Mila Kunis, Shaquille O’Neal, Aisha Tyler, Jennifer Lawrence and Channing Tatum.

A statement (via Entertainment Tonight) from the network read, “Jimmy is very grateful to Shaquille O’Neal, Dave Grohl, Channing Tatum and Jennifer Lawrence for filling his very small shoes as guest hosts this week while he, his wife and children sneeze on each other.”

Last week, Kimmel gushed over his son’s progress via Instagram and said that Billy is “happy and healthy.” The young boy was diagnosed with congenital heart disease just hours after he was born. Three days later, they were told by the doctor that he needed to undergo open heart surgery.

Kimmel’s wife had just given birth and was still in the recovery room at that time. “I thought I was accompanying my son to a routine check-up but it became a very serious situation very quickly. I didn’t have my cellphone to tell my wife what was going on. She started to worry about an hour after I left and the doctor had to go and tell her what was going on,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

In August, Kimmel told the same publication that Billy would still need to undergo two more operations to help improve his condition. By the looks of it, he was scheduled for the second one sometime this week.

“He has two more open heart surgeries. We would like to get them over with and not have to think about it all the time, but it could definitely be worse,” he said.

Kimmel announced his son’s condition during an episode of his talk show. He also took this opportunity to discuss the health care-related issues in the country. He encouraged better health care plans for everyone, especially those who cannot afford to pay huge sums of money.