The star revealed he got the corrective surgery last week, following a lifelong genetic heart condition.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is back and better than ever!
On Monday, the Terminator star updated his fans via his Arnold's Pump Club newsletter about his most recent heart procedure. In the weekly note, the 76-year-old actor shared that he had undergone surgery to have a pacemaker put in, after a lifelong battle with a genetic heart condition.
"Last Monday, I had surgery to become a little bit more of a machine: I got a pacemaker," he wrote via his website. "I have to tell you, just saying this to all of you goes against so much of my upbringing in Austria, where nobody -- ever -- talked about medical issues. Everything related to healthcare was kept to yourself."
Schwarzenegger went on to explain that he got the surgery on a Monday, and was back facing the public the following Friday, and nobody knew, noting "nobody would ever have thought that I started the week with surgery."
The Predator star shared that he has had a lifelong battle with bicuspid valves, which according to Johns Hopkins Medicine is "a type of abnormality in the aortic valve in the heart." Schwarzenegger said that his mother and his grandmother both died due to the heart condition. However, since 1997, he's been working with doctors and medical professionals to fix his condition through a series of surgeries.
"I had my valves replaced for the first time in 1997, which required open-heart surgery," he wrote. "They told me both valves would last 12 to 15 years. Dr. Starnes did a wonderful job, and they made it 21 years, so by the time I went in for replacement in 2018, the non-invasive option was available. Of course, you know that there was a little screwup at the hospital in Los Angeles, and my non-invasive surgery became open-heart. I told that story and shared footage here in this newsletter."
He continued, "They only replaced one of the two valves, so I headed to the Cleveland Clinic in 2020 and did the other one. This time, the non-invasive Transcatheter valve replacement worked!"
Despite the successful surgeries, the Expendables actor said that his doctors informed him that he would eventually need a pacemaker. According to the former governor of California, he went for a check up at the beginning of March, ahead of his Arnold Sports Festival, and the doctors told him it was time for the procedure. After speaking to a friend, he shared that he wasn't nervous about having the procedure done and was ready to improve his quality of life, after living with an irregular heartbeat.
Schwarzenegger was also sold after the doctors told him that the pacemaker would allow him to film more seasons of his show, FUBAR.
"Monday, I went under and got my new machine part installed," he shared. "Like I said, by Friday, I was out doing my normal environmental work, and nobody knew anything. I can’t do my serious training in the gym for a while, but I will be 100% ready for FUBAR next month."
The action star ended his message by reiterating how important it was for him to open up about his surgery, despite wanting to keep health issues private, because of community.
"I could have kept it a secret. But I know that we have more than 750,000 subscribers now (775,000 to be exact — the village is a city now!), and a lot of you are probably dealing with your own health challenges," he wrote. "I want you to know you aren't alone. 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."
He continued, "This village is a place for us to be open and honest because it's impossible to be truly positive when you keep everything bottled up. That's what Arnold’s Pump Club is all about. There are weights that none of us can lift alone."
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