Already have an account?
Get back to the

Arnold Schwarzenegger After Open-Heart Surgery: I’m Feeling Better But Not Great Yet’

Arnold-Schwarzenegger-health-update
Arnold Schwarzenegger is interviewed for the Politico podcast Off Message during SXSW Interactive on March 11, 2018 in Austin, Texas.Jim Bennett/WireImage

He’ll be back . . . to normal in no time. Arnold Schwarzenegger shared a health update on his recovery after undergoing open-heart surgery in late March.

Related: Celebrity Health Scares

The 70-year-old Terminator actor was dicharged from Cedars-Sinai in L.A. on April 6. 

“I just want you to know that I’m feeling much better. I can’t say, even with my positive attitude, that I’m great, because I’m not great yet,” the former California governor shared in a Thursday, April 12, video posted on Twitter. “Great is a totally different level. But I’m good. I get good care, good doctors, good nurses. Everything is fantastic.”

Schwarzenegger, who filmed the 53-second clip in front of a chess board, explained he was playing the game to “freshen” his mind and memory. “And we move forward,” he declared. “So I will stay in touch with all of you. And thank you all for being such jewels.”

As previously reported, the Austrian-born star had a pulmonic valve replacement in a planned procedure on March 29. He had the same surgery in 1997.

Related: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Body Evolution

“That 1997 replacement valve was never meant to be permanent, and has outlived it’s life expectancy, so he chose to replace it,” Schwarzenegger’s spokesperson, Daniel Ketchell, told The Washington Post on March 30.

Schwarzenegger has maintained his sense of humor since going under the knife, referencing an iconic catchphrase from Terminator. “It’s true: I’m back!” he tweeted April 2. “I went to sleep expecting to wake up with a small incision and woke up with a big one — but guess what? I woke up, and that’s something to be grateful for. Thank you to the doctors & nurses. And I’m truly filled with gratitude for all of the kind messages.” 

 

Related: Celebrity Kids on the Red Carpet: Then and Now

Ketchell told Us Weekly last month that Schwarzenegger was “doing well post-surgery and was “joking with people, laughing and in great spirits.”

Schwarzenegger shares kids Katherine, 28, Christina, 26, Patrick, 24, and Christopher, 20, with estranged wife Maria Shriver. He is also dad of Joseph, 20, with Mildred Baena.

In this article

Got a Tip form close button
Got a tip for US?
We're All Ears for Celebrity Buzz!