Arnold Schwarzenegger reveals recent heart surgery to make him “more of a machine” like the Terminator

nme.com:

Arnold Schwarzenegger has revealed that he had a pacemaker fitted last week after undergoing previous heart surgeries.Schwarzenegger, 76, explained he now has a “machine part” just like his Terminator character – and said he would have to take a pause from going to the gym.Speaking on his podcast Arnold’s Pump Club, released today (March 25), the actor said: ‘Last Monday, I had surgery to become a little bit more of a machine: I got a pacemaker.“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.“But I’ve gotten so many messages and emails from people who were born with a bicuspid aortic valve, like me, telling me that talking about my valve replacement surgeries has given them courage and hope to deal with their own.“So, since I know that going against my secretive instinct and being transparent helps people, what choice do I have?”He also went on to reassure his fans that he was “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…’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. They also advised me that it was time to go through with this because some scar tissue from my previous surgery had made my heartbeat irregular.“It had been like that for a few years, so I stayed in touch with my medical team and visited in person at least once a year to get a full check-up and see how my heart was.