Arnold Schwarzenegger underwent emergency open-heart surgery Friday, as TMZ reported, but the former bodybuilder, blockbuster movie star and California governor is now in stable condition, according to his spokesman.
Schwarzenegger "is awake and his first words were actually 'I'm back,' so he is in good spirits," Daniel Ketchell said via Twitter Friday afternoon.
TMZ originally reported that the 70-year-old former Mr. Olympia, a seven-time champ of pro bodybuilding, had been taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles "for a catheter valve replacement," but doctors "quickly decided" that Schwarzenegger needed emergency surgery. The report has since been supplemented with comments from Schwarzenegger's representation, which said the surgery was "to replace a pulmonic valve that was originally replaced due to a congenital heart defect in 1997."
"That 1997 replacement valve," TMZ noted, "was never meant to be permanent and has outlived its life expectancy."
Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, remains in recovery from surgery in stable condition.
Before serving as the 38th governor of California from 2003-11, Schwarzenegger was an internationally known bodybuilder who rose to fame in Hollywood and politics. The "Terminator" star inspired the 1989 creation of the Arnold Sports Festival, became the youngest-ever Mr. Universe at age 20 and represented Austria in International Powerlifting Championships.
