Arnold Schwarzenegger is recovering from heart surgery, according to his rep (updated)
Arnold Schwarzenegger is in stable condition after heart surgery.
After a report surfaced that he had “emergency open-heart surgery” on Thursday, a rep for the Terminator star, 70, spoke out on Friday afternoon saying Arnold actually had a “planned procedure” to replace a “pulmonic valve” that had originally been replaced in 1997.
My statement on Governor @Schwarzenegger’s procedure. pic.twitter.com/7RoVtHN43c
— Daniel Ketchell (@ketch) March 30, 2018
The rep, Daniel Ketchell, noted that during the procedure, an open-heart surgery team was assembled, which he said was typical. It seems they were able to successfully step in and perform open-heart surgery. Arnold is now recovering, and the spokesperson thanked the hospital staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for their hard work.
Ketchell posted a second tweet soon after, noting that Arnold’s sense of humor is intact.
Update: @Schwarzenegger is awake and his first words were actually “I’m back”, so he is in good spirits. https://t.co/bJ4pxqS8l6
— Daniel Ketchell (@ketch) March 30, 2018
As noted, the action superstar, former California governor, and former Mr. Olympia had heart surgery for a congenital heart defect in 1997. In a 2016 interview on In Depth With Graham Bensinger, the father of five spoke of his family’s history of heart problems, saying his late mother’s heart had two valves that “didn’t work well.” Additionally, her mother had a valve problem. He talked about having two valves replaced (“the aortic valve and pulmonary valve”) and how the procedure failed. Hours later, they had to repeat the procedure, which was life-threatening, and he admitted that he had thought there was a chance he would die. “Luckily it all turned out well,” he said. “Now, 19 years later, I still have the same valves and everything is standing fine.”
Schwarzenegger’s family, including Maria Shriver, whom he is still married to despite splitting in 2011, have been quiet about the news on social media. Though there’s a chance they are just learning of the operation themselves. Arnold infamously tried to keep his first heart surgery a secret from Maria.
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