Arnold Schwarzenegger reveals he is recovering after surgery to get pacemaker: ‘That’s life with a genetic heart issue’
Arnold Schwarzenegger is reportedly recovering after undergoing surgery to get a pacemaker
Arnold Schwarzenegger is reportedly recovering after undergoing surgery to get a pacemaker. The actor, 76, shared the news after appearing on his Arnold’s Pump Club podcast.
“I have some personal news to share. Last Monday, I had surgery for a pacemaker and became a little bit more of a machine,” he announced. Schwarzenegger said that talking about his health publicly “goes against so much of my upbringing in Austria,” but he still wanted to be transparent.
“First of all, I want you to know I’m doing great! I had my surgery on Monday, and by Friday, I was already at a big environmental event with my friend and fellow fitness crusader Jane Fonda,” he said, adding that Fonda is someone who is “healthy” and “looks fantastic.”
“Nobody would ever have thought I started the week with a surgery. I want to thank my whole team at the Cleveland Clinic. All of the doctors and nurses took amazing care of me and made the surgery as painless as possible,” he added.
Why Arnold Schwarzenegger needed a pacemaker
The surgery had to be done after some scar tissue from Schwarzenegger’s previous procedures made his heartbeat irregular. “That’s life with a genetic heart issue. But you won’t hear me complaining,” he said.
He said that he is healthy today because he is “diligent and staying in touch with my doctors and listening to them.” He also revealed that his mother, who did not get the valve replacement surgery, died in 1998.
“I had my valves replaced for the first time in 1997, which required open heart surgery. They told me both valves would last 12 to 15 years,” he said. Schwarzenegger had to then undergo surgeries to get both replaced again in 2018 and 2020.
Schwarzenegger went for a normal checkup in March before going to the Arnold Sports Festival. Based on his results, his doctor told him a pacemaker was needed. He was set to film season two of FUBAR after that. “I can’t do my serious training in the gym for a while, but I will be 100 percent ready for FUBAR next month,” he said.
“I could have kept it a secret. But I know that we have more than 750,000 subscribers now on the daily newsletter. … I know a lot of you are probably dealing with your own health challenges and I want you to know you aren’t alone,” he said. “And if you’re putting something off out of fear, I hope I inspire you to listen to your doctors and take care of yourself.”