Joel McHale Grateful for Son’s Full Recovery
 Albert Ferreira/Startraks |
The Soup host Joel McHale is known for his humor, but there is nothing funny about the open heart surgery performed on his son Edward ‘Eddie’ Roy, 3 ½, while still just a newborn. “It was a horrific time for us,” Joel admits to Tasty Baby. “Very surreal.” Eddie had two holes in the wall of his heart which surgeons needed to close, but Joel says that the situation could have easily been much worse. “Even though open heart surgery is obviously major, major surgery, Eddie’s problem was nothing compared to when a surgeon has to deal with the valves and veins of the heart,” Joel explains. “Multiple surgeries are required for those, and it can affect quality of life and life-span.” That Eddie emerged from the procedure with no “residual effects” has left Joel and wife Sarah — who are also parents to 9-month-old Isaac Hayden – feeling “deeply thankful.” Joel adds,
“We spent about a week in Los Angeles Children’s Hospital (the greatest hospital in the world), on the floor with all the other children who were recovering from much more serious surgeries. We realized quickly that Eddie’s problem paled in comparison to some of those kids. We were so lucky because we had an end to the dark tunnel that was his problem, but for those other kids, it can be a life-long struggle, or worse. They are so strong and brave.”
Advising every parent to “thank God for the gift that is their children’s health, and shower them with love,” Joel says that growing up with two brothers helped prepare him for life with his two sons — who “get along great.” “My poor mom was also surrounded by men,” Joel says. “Sarah…will just have to get used to a life of the toilet seat always being up.” The 37-year-old comedian says that there’s not “as much testosterone as you’d think” in his house, however: “I inject myself with estrogen daily…Menopause sucks,” he jokes.
Click below to read Joel’s thoughts on going green as a family.
Telling Tasty Baby that he considers himself an environmentalist, Joel says that he’s employing eco-friendly measures around the house with varying degrees of success. “We’ve been trying to teach [Isaac] to make sure he doesn’t throw away cans and bottles,” Joel notes. “Sadly, he sucks at it.”
“He just drools all over the recycling and pushes it around and smiles. It’s pretty cute.”
Eddie, on the other hand, is a big fan of the Toyota Prius — but Joel says he can’t take the credit. “[Eddie] just loves them. I like the Audi R8, but go figure – the kid is naturally environmentally conscious.”
Source: Tasty Baby
- Posted on Jan 7, 09 at 5:00PM
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- 19 Comments
January 7th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
I love Joel he is SO funny. His boys are adorable and I love their names they are classic but not over used…
January 7th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
I love Joel McHale and I’m glad his son is okay now. It’s weird to see him being so serious, but I like that.
January 7th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I have such a crush on Joel McHale – and now its even bigger!
January 7th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I’m a huge Joel fan from The Soup…such a funny show! I had no idea his son had heart surgery years ago…what a wonderful thing he’s OK now. And it’s lovely to hear their family’s thankfulness and thoughtfulness.
January 7th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Gahh, I just adore him. He is the absolute best!
I am so glad Eddie is okay now…what a scary thing to go through!
January 7th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
I love Joel! He is so funny and seems like an amazing family man. My husband and I have tickets to see him here in Cincinnati on the 18th, I can’t wait!
January 7th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Our soon-to-be 11 year old had leukemia when he was 7(now in remission, thank God!) and spent a lot of time in the hospital and had surgery and chemo and transfusions,and had infections, and allergic reactions, etc… it was a very difficult time to get thru.
There is also this 6 month old baby at our church with multiple heart defects and at birth had open-heart surgery(equal to triple by-pass) and 2 shunts installed(age 2 mos. and 5 mos.) and replaced and this week having another open-heart surgery which has to be repeated again at age 5 years old , and needs a heart transplant when he’s around 11 years old and still needs shunts replaced every 6-12 months for life as well as nightly injections of blood thinner meds! I can’t even IMAGINE the uncertainty ,worry,and stress this must have on his family.
January 7th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
ErykaWynter – Who DOESN’T have a crush on Joel? LOL! He is awesome.
January 7th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
I had no idea they went through this with Eddie. I just saw Joel perform his comedy show in Boston last week and it was great. He did a whole bit on Eddie which was a riot.
January 7th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
What a great perspective he has!
January 7th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
He is hilarious. His kids are cute and he is a Battlestar Galactica fan as well. I wonder if BSG will beat out Thomas the Tank Engine again this year or if he has another TV to watch it on. He cracked us up when he had a battle of the wills with his oldest on it.
January 7th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
SO, SO, true. i wish all parents could have this perspective without having to see their children endure such things. i now think he is even more fabulous! a funny man with tremendous depth who’s a great dad…what a combination!
January 7th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
I love Joel – he’s funny, but also seems like a genuinely good guy and he and his wife are obviously loving parents.
I have family and friends who’ve gone through the stress, fear and rollercoaster of a serious illness with a young child. It must be such a nightmare. I’m glad the McHales and Eddie had a good outcome.
My prayers are with those children and their families who are facing illness.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
I love Joel, he is so funny. His wife is very lucky – I’m sure he keeps her laughing. And it’s great he’s sharing about his son. It would be very scary to have your new baby need open heart surgery. So glad everything worked out for him.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Jill…I’m from Cincy too! Where is he going to be??? I HAVE to go see him if he’ll be here!!!
And I agree with ErykaWynter – I have a crush too! Humor always gets me
January 8th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Lis…He’s going to be at the Taft Theater. It’s probably not sold out, go to Ticketmaster.com and I’m sure they’ll have tix left. I can’t wait!!
January 8th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Joel is such a jokester, but I had no idea his son went through all that. I’m glad things turned out so well for them.
I love hearing how he’s trying to get his sons to go green, and Eddie seems to be better at going green than he is, lmao. But hey, at least Isaac likes the recycables, despite drooling on it and playing with it. Maybe it’s a sign he’ll love to recycle when he’s old enough to understand.
January 10th, 2009 at 1:19 am
I LOVE JOEL!!!! The Soup is one of my favorite shows.. And I LOVE it how he and Ryan Seacrest are always making fun of each other!!!! I’m so glad little Eddie is doing better… He is just a little cutie!!!! Both Joel and Sarah’s boys are cute!!!!
January 27th, 2009 at 8:05 am
I love Joel, too. I am so glad his son is ok. My favorite part of the show is when that teen girl yells, “It’s Miley”!! I wish Joel could be taking over for Jay Leno instead of Conan O’ Brian..