Arnold Schwarzenegger is recovering after his March heart surgery
LOS ANGELES — Arnold Schwarzenegger is recovering after his March heart surgery. The 70-year-old « Terminator » actor and former governor of California says he’s good, but not great, following the procedure.
On Thursday he released a short video on Twitter updating his condition and thanking people for the support.
Schwarzenegger says he’s feeling better, but he’s « not great yet. » He was seated at a chessboard, which he says he uses to freshen his mind and memory.
Schwarzenegger underwent a scheduled heart procedure on March 29. A pulmonic valve originally installed in 1997 for a congenital heart defect had to be replaced.
His spokesperson and production company’s chief of staff, Daniel Ketchell, told CBS News that Schwarzenegger woke up from surgery and said « ‘I’m back’ — like a happy, ‘I’m back.’ He was on brand. »
« Ever since, he’s been awake, and joking quite a bit, and quite thankful for the whole thing, » he said.
Ketchell explained what led up to the surgery to CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook: « It was starting to not really be heavily symptomatic, but he’d get a little tired in the afternoon; but that was it. It wasn’t at the point where the doctors said it’s time now. But it was at the point where with his schedule, it made sense. »
With the open-heart procedure, rather than the catheter procedure, the recovery will be « a little longer break than he planned, » Ketchell said.
Schwarzenegger was released from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on April 6.
