‘I’m back’: Schwarzenegger recovering after heart op
US actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger is recovering in a Los Angeles hospital after undergoing heart surgery.
The 70-year-old former California governor had a scheduled procedure to replace a pulmonic valve on Thursday, according to Schwarzenegger’s spokesman, Daniel Ketchell. He was in stable condition on Friday.
‘‘His first words were actually `I’m back’, so he is in good spirits,’’ Ketchell tweeted.
The operation was necessary to replace a valve that had originally been installed in 1997 for a congenital heart defect.
‘‘That 1997 replacement valve was never meant to be permanent, and has outlived its life expectancy,’’ Ketchell said. Schwarzenegger opted for a lessinvasive catheter valve replacement procedure.
An open-heart surgery team was ready during the procedure, but Ketchell said their presence wasn’t unusual in such circumstances.
‘‘It wasn’t an emergency. It was a planned surgery,’’ he said. ‘‘The open heart was the backup option.’’
Schwarzenegger was a bodybuilding star before turning to movies. His career as an action hero took off with the box-office hit Conan the Barbarian in 1982. His role in the Terminator in 1984 propelled him into box-office superstardom. He served as governor of California from 2003 to 2011.
In addition to his heart ailments, Schwarzenegger had a motorcycle crash in 2001 that left him with several broken ribs. He’s had a hip replaced and had rotator cuff surgery in 2003.
A 2006 skiing accident broke his right femur, an injury that required a complicated surgery to repair. It also forced Schwarzenegger to hobble on crutches during his second gubernatorial inauguration and several major events.