Arnold Schwarzenegger opens up about harrowing recovery after the “disaster” of his third open heart surgery

Arnold Schwarzenegger recently broke his silence over the complications he suffered after his third open heart surgery. The actor had to be operated on only months before he started filming 'Terminator 6', which came out in 2019.

The 76-year-old former governor of California took to YouTube to share what were some of the first images of his recovery. He also shared vital insight into the difficult stages of his recovery, which were fraught with complications.

Although the surgery was supposed to be a non-invasive one, a flaw in the procedure caused him to bleed internally. Due to such a circumstance, the doctors had to operate on him quite fast.

Schwarzenneger called the situation a complete “disaster,” stating that he was only able to recover by keeping a positive mindset throughout his journey.

---

Arnold Schwarzenegger's heart surgery recovery journey was updated by the actor via a YouTube video

“I remember when I had my open heart surgery, the third one, which was just a few years ago just before we started Terminator 6,” Arnold Schwarzenegger recalled in the video.

"It was a flaw that had caused internal bleeding during the surgery, I was really freaking out. I woke up and all of a sudden the doctors were in front of me saying, ‘I’m so sorry but it was unlike what we planned,'" he added.

Arnold Schwarzenegger called the entire situation a sheer “disaster,” and remarked that it was only by keeping a positive mindset that he was able to recover. He stated:

"The bottom line is, you cannot roll the clock back. It was a disaster. I was in the middle of a disaster. So now how do I get out of it? You have to shift gears."

He was determined to get out of the hospital first in order to get better. To do this, the actor informed his viewers that he took small strides, beginning with just getting out of bed and taking 10 steps. He gradually increased this to the nurse’s station and, finally managed to walk longer distances.

“I even called my buddies in and I said, you guys have to fire me up……..I looked like an idiot waddling around in the hallways but the bottom line was I was getting because the doctors said you have to exercise your lungs because if you get pneumonia you can die," Schwarzenegger added further.

---

Why did Arnold Schwarzenegger have to have an open-heart surgery?

Arnold Schwarzenegger got an open heart surgery back in 2018. (Image via Vecteezy)

Arnold Schwarzenegger had to have an open heart surgery back in 2018 to replace a pulmonary valve or pulmonic valve. This valve is located between the heart and the lungs and allows blood flow to reach the lungs from the right ventricle of the heart. The surgery was performed at the Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.

Schwarzenegger was born with what is known as aortic stenosis, which makes the heart pump blood harder than usual to get the blood through the aortic valve. The procedure that the doctor undertook to treat his heart is known as the Ross procedure. It involves the removal of the existing pulmonic valve, moving it to the aortic position, and then replacing the missing valve with that of a donor.

The doctors removed his congenitally bicuspid aortic valve through surgery in the late 90s and replaced it with his pulmonic valve. However, the actor had two leaflets instead of three, which is normally there, and this left him without a pulmonic valve.

Although this missing space was replaced with a donor’s valve, it failed after almost 20 years. This is why Schwarzenegger had to have another open-heart surgery.

---

Arnold Schwarzenegger credited his positive thinking to be the key element that got him back into shape and healthy. He could do all the fight scenes, lift things up, and run around after his recovery. By the time they started filming Terminator 6, in the actor’s words, he was “all back together again.”