Jimmy Kimmel Reveals Details of His Son’s Birth & Heart Disease

I'm not going to lie to you, this monologue from Jimmy Kimmel had me in tears last night. First off, I can only imagine how awful it is to have your kid rushed to major surgery like that so soon after they were born. Just having my son born via "rushed" (emergency isn't quite the right word there) c-section was enough for me. When they wheeled my wife into the operating room and I had to wait outside while they prepped her, it was the longest 10 minutes. A couple months ago my daughter had to have an MRI for a spinal issue and that was equally nerve-racking.

My daughter is fine, in the grand scheme of things but we've been in and out of Children's Hospital the last couple weeks and have appointments scheduled through May. Some days it is tough going there and seeing all the medical issues kids have to deal with. Kids should be outside climbing trees or inside watching too much youtube, they shouldn't be in hospitals.

Anyway I'm missing my point, which is totally political. The United States of America is the richest nation in the world, probably in the history of the world. It's beyond ridiculous that we can't care for each others medial needs. My daughter's spinal issue (which again, isn't that big of a deal) is going to require an MRI every six months to monitor until it either goes away or she's done growing at the age of like 22. Even with insurance that's $3,000 an MRI and I'm not about to do the math to see how much that will cost in until she's graduated and has her own insurance. Without provisions for pre-existing conditions there's a good chance she would never be able to get insurance or if she could it's going to be insanely expensive.

I'm not saying I have all the answers or even any answers. I just know that in a nation with this much wealth its ridiculous that anyone should have to go bankrupt because they needed medical care. How some people are cool with stockpiling tanks we don't need and nuclear weapons we hope to never use, but heaven forbid we pay for someone's liver transplant is beyond me. People's lives aren't just another line in the budget, whatever it takes to keep kids, mothers, fathers, brothers, aunts and uncles alive and healthy is money well spent.

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now. My next post will be a Mario cartoon or something.