Arnold Schwarzenegger is "good" but "not great yet" after heart surgery
LOS ANGELES — Arnold Schwarzenegger is recovering after his March heart surgery. The 70-year-old "Terminator" actor and former governor of California says he's good, but not great, following the procedure.
On Thursday he released a short video on Twitter updating his condition and thanking people for the support.
Schwarzenegger says he's feeling better, but he's "not great yet." He was seated at a chessboard, which he says he uses to freshen his mind and memory.
Schwarzenegger underwent a scheduled heart procedure on March 29. A pulmonic valve originally installed in 1997 for a congenital heart defect had to be replaced.
His spokesperson and production company's chief of staff, Daniel Ketchell, told CBS News that Schwarzenegger woke up from surgery and said "'I'm back' -- like a happy, 'I'm back.' He was on brand."
"Ever since, he's been awake, and joking quite a bit, and quite thankful for the whole thing," he said.
Ketchell explained what led up to the surgery to CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook: "It was starting to not really be heavily symptomatic, but he'd get a little tired in the afternoon; but that was it. It wasn't at the point where the doctors said it's time now. But it was at the point where with his schedule, it made sense."
With the open-heart procedure, rather than the catheter procedure, the recovery will be "a little longer break than he planned," Ketchell said.
Schwarzenegger was released from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on April 6.
