The Terminator star says he’s now “a little bit more of a machine,” as he opens up about his health, the operation and why he decided not to keep it a “secret.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger is opening up about his ongoing heart condition and his recent surgery to be fitted with a pacemaker.
The Terminator star referenced his iconic role while announcing the news on his website Monday, revealing that a week ago he “had surgery to become a little bit more of a machine: I got a pacemaker.” This decision came following three previous heart surgeries and a more recent discovery he had an irregular heartbeat.
The 76-year-old actor shared that he initially considered keeping the surgery a secret, as talking about his medical condition “goes against so much of my upbringing in Austria, where nobody — ever — talked about medical issues.” He added, “Everything related to healthcare was kept to yourself.”
He noted, however, that his past statements about undergoing valve replacement surgeries for his bicuspid aortic valve led to messages and emails from fans saying he gave them “courage and hope to deal with their own.” Schwarzenegger added, “So, since I know that going against my secretive instinct and being transparent helps people, what choice do I have?”
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The actor prefaced the rest of his post by saying he’s “doing great” post-op, revealing he already attended an event with Jane Fonda and California Governor Gavin Newsom in the days after the operation (photo above). “Nobody would ever have thought I started the week with a surgery,” he shared.
Schwarzenegger explained his heartbeat started to become irregular due to scar tissue from a previous surgery. Arnold had open-heart surgery back in 1997 to replace his valves, which had to be done again years later — one in 2018 and the other in 2020.
While he had the irregular heartbeat “for a few years,” he said he was monitored regularly and it didn’t require surgery until now.
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In March, after his regular checkup, he was told it was time — especially as Schwarzenegger was planning to start filming Season 2 of FUBAR on Netflix in just six weeks. “The doctors told me they want many more seasons of FUBAR, and this was the best way!” he said, before sharing that he went to the Cleveland Clinic last week and saying the surgery was “as painless as possible”
“Like I said, by Friday, I was out doing my normal environmental work, and nobody knew anything,” he revealed. “I can’t do my serious training in the gym for a while, but I will be 100% ready for FUBAR next month!”
“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,” Schwarzenegger concluded. “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.”
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