Arnold Schwarzenegger Shares 1st Photos With Pacemaker After Surgery

Just days after Arnold Schwarzenegger underwent surgery to have a pacemaker fitted, the actor and former California governor shared a new photo of himself via Instagram.

In the snap, Schwarzenegger, 76, can be seen relaxing in a chair, wearing his “pacemaker” — a clock with a “high voltage” sign attached — as he looks at the camera.

“Thank you! I’ve gotten so many kind messages from all over the world, but a lot of people have asked if my pacemaker will cause any problems with FUBAR Season 2,” the caption reads. “Absolutely not. I will be ready to film in April, and you can only see it if you’re really looking for it.”

FUBAR debuted on Netflix in 2023. Schwarzenegger stars in the series as a CIA operative who works with his daughter, played by Monica Barbaro. It was renewed for a second season in June 2023 and was the most streamed television series for the week of its release despite receiving mixed reviews.

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Schwarzenegger first revealed that he had the surgery in the Monday, March 25, episode of his podcast, “Arnold’s Pump Club.” The Terminator star joked that the procedure made him “a little bit more of a machine.”

The pacemaker is the latest operation that Schwarzenegger has undergone to address a bicuspid aortic valve, a congenital heart defect he has had since birth. He previously had a pulmonic valve replacement in 1997 to help blood flow from his heart to his lungs, followed by open heart surgery in 2018 to replace that valve.

In 2020, he had surgery to replace his aortic valve, which enables blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body. He added that the most recent surgery was necessary “because some scar tissue from my previous surgery had made my heartbeat irregular.”

Though Schwarzenegger is recovering well, he says he will require regular checkups and won’t be doing “serious training in the gym for a while.” He added that just days after his surgery, he was back out doing events.

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“I’m 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,” he said on his podcast.

Schwarzenegger said that being open about his health “goes against so much of [his] upbringing in Austria, where nobody ever talked about medical issues. Everything related to healthcare was kept to yourself.”

He chose to speak out due to his past experiences hearing from others with the same heart condition, who “​​[told him] that talking about [his] valve replacement surgeries has given them courage and hope to deal with their own.”