“a planned procedure…”
Okay, I’m not a fan of his Kasich-with-charisma politics, but if you grew up in the 1980s you can’t help but have some love for Ahh-nold. He was, of course, the Terminator in two very good films (and a few not-so-good ones), but he was also Dutch in Predator and pretty great in True Lies and several other action and comedy films of the era. So when the man gets heart surgery, I’m rooting for him.
Earlier today TMZ reported that Schwarzenegger had undergone “emergency” heart surgery: “Doctors were prepared in case the catheter valve replacement failed… and quickly decided Arnold needed emergency open-heart surgery, which we’re told lasted several hours.” A few hours later a spokesman posted a statement on Twitter saying the heart surgery, to replace a bad valve, was planned in advance:
My statement on Governor @Schwarzenegger ’s procedure. pic.twitter.com/7RoVtHN43c
— Daniel Ketchell (@ketch) March 30,2018
I can’t actually tell from this statement whether the open-heart surgery team actually had to take over after the less invasive procedure failed (as TMZ suggests) or if the team was just on standby and the less-invasive procedure was a success. In any case, a short while later the spokesman posted this:
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
That sounds like the sort of thing a Hollywood publicist might make up. Then again, Schwarzenegger really is fond of quoting his famous lines. He does it all the time in interviews. So it wouldn’t surprise me if he really did say this.
Fox News highlights this interview Schwarzenegger gave in 2016 talking about his previous heart surgery. He says here that the initial surgery failed and doctors informed him hours later that they would need to try again. He says he could feel the seriousness in the room even though he was highly medicated at the time.
