Arnold Schwarzenegger in ‘Good Spirits’ While Recovering From Open-Heart Surgery

Arnold Schwarzenegger is in “good spirits” after his open-heart surgery on Thursday, his spokesman said Saturday.

In an email to the Associated Press, spokesman Daniel Ketchell said Schwarzenegger “continues to be doing very well, in good spirits, and recovering.”

Ketchell previously told Schwarzenegger’s fans on Twitter that his first words after waking up from surgery were “I’m back,” a reference to his famous Terminator line “I’ll be back.”

“[Schwarzenegger] is awake and his first words were actually ‘I’m back,’ so he is in good spirits,” Ketchell tweeted.

On Thursday, the 70-year-old former California governor went to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles to have the catheter valve installed in 1997 replaced. The procedure is experimental and there were reportedly complications, which necessitated open-heart surgery.

Ketchell later assured fans that Schwarzenegger’s doctors were prepared for the surgery and the action movie icon is in stable condition.

“Yesterday, Gov. Schwarzenegger underwent a planned procedure at Cedars-Sinai [Medical Center] to replace a pulmonic valve that was originally replaced due to a congenital heart defect in 1997,” Ketchell wrote. “That 1997 replacement valve was never meant to be permanent, and has outlived its life expectancy, so he chose to replace it yesterday through a less-invasive catheter valve replacement.”

Ketchell continued, “During that procedure, an open-heart surgery team was prepared, as they frequently are in these circumstances, in case the catheter procedure was unable to be performed. We want to thank the entire medical team for their tireless efforts.”

Schwarzenegger appeared in two movies last year, Killing Gunther and Aftermath. He is scheduled to appear in several upcoming films, including an untitled sixth Terminator movie scheduled for July 26, 2019. The actor also signed up to star in the Twins sequel Triplets and a new Conan the Barbarian movie called The Legend of Conan.

In early March, Schwarzenegger told TheArnoldFans.com the plan is to film the new Terminator movie later this year. Deadpool director Tim Miller is directing, and Terminator creator James Cameron is producing.

“We are starting to shoot Terminator 6 in June to the middle of October, so I am in that,” he said. “I am looking forward to coming back as the T-800 model. It’s gonna be great with Tim Miller as the director and Jim Cameron is kind of supervising the whole thing.”

After that, Schwarzenegger plans to star in a feature-length film based on the famous ’80s tribute short Kung Fury.

Schwarzenegger served as California governor from 2003 to 2011.