I'm glad he's still alive. People seem not to understand how dangerous a ruptured appendix can be, and hopefully, his story will encourage someone else to go to the hospital. Via Yahoo News:

Not long after Colbert sat down with his predecessor, David Letterman, on the Monday before Thanksgiving, he went home feeling a little under the weather. He said when he woke up the next day he was in agony, and that never went away.

But he decided to do the show anyway, in large part because of how much time his staff has already missed this year due to the writers’ strikes and then Colbert getting COVID shortly after everyone was back to work.

After what sounded like a rather painful show — one that included an interview with Bradley Cooper and a cooking segment-turned-impromptu-dance-moment with chef José Andrés — Colbert ended up going to the hospital afterward where he learned that his appendix had already burst.

That of course required emergency surgery, which required recovery time, which is why Colbert is just now returning.

“I am your host Stephen Colbert,” he said to open the show. “Although for a little while there, I almost wasn’t.”