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Three heart surgeries and a pacemaker can’t slow down Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Earlier this week, the former California governor revealed he was recently fitted for a pacemaker.
In a post to Instagram, he poked fun at the procedure and his action star status by strapping a fake high-voltage dynamite device on his chest.
“Thank you!” he wrote in the caption. “I’ve gotten so many kind messages from all over the world.”
He also assured fans that the procedure won’t affect the filming of his Netflix series “FUBAR.”
“A lot of people have asked if my pacemaker will cause any problems with ‘FUBAR’ Season 2. Absolutely not,” he said. “I will be ready to film in April, and you can only see it if you’re really looking for it.”
On Monday, the “Terminator” actor revealed he became “a little bit more of a machine” in his daily email newsletter, Arnold’s Pump Club.
He underwent surgery earlier last Monday and by Friday he attended an environmental event alongside Jane Fonda and Governor Gavin Newsom, which called for the protection of neighborhoods from toxic drilling.
“I want to thank my whole team at the Cleveland Clinic,” he wrote in the newsletter. “All of the doctors and nurses took amazing care of me and made the surgery as painless as possible.”
Schwarzenegger was born with a bicuspid aortic valve, which both his mother and maternal grandmother had as well.
He said both women ended up dying from the condition.
“My mom refused to have the valve replacement surgery. But back then, the only option was open-heart. Today, they’re replacing valves with non-invasive procedures where you can go home the same day.”
He credited modern-day procedures and his doctors for being able to have a long and healthy life.
“I’m still here because of medical innovation and being very diligent about staying in touch with my doctors and listening to them,” he explained.
“A bicuspid aortic valve is a type of abnormality in the aortic valve in the heart,” according to Johns Hopkins. “In bicuspid aortic valve, the valve has only two small parts, called leaflets, instead of the normal three. This condition is present from birth. It can occur with other heart defects.”
Schwarzenegger has had surgeries between 1997 and 2020 to address the issue. By making this public, he ended up helping so many people.
“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,” he explained.
At the beginning of March, he was advised by doctors he would need a pacemaker and made that public to help others feel they “weren’t alone.”
He also hopes this will inspire people to stop putting off something “out of fear” and “to listen to your doctors and take care of yourself.”
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