Arnold Schwarzenegger, 70, has undergone emergency open-heart surgery following a failed valve

ARNOLD Schwarzenegger joked ‘I’m back’ were his very first words after waking up from an emergency heart op.

The former California governor, 70, was rushed to Cedars-Sinai hospital for a catheter valve replacement, according to TMZ.

The muscle man is said to be in good spirits, and even cracked a reference to The Terminator after coming round in hospital, reports The Sun.

Surgeons apparently hit complications during the “experimental” procedure.

The replacement failed, forcing physicians to carry out open-heart surgery on the Terminator actor in a procedure which lasted several hours.

However his spokesman insisted that he was in a stable condition following the op and even joked around.

Daniel Ketchell tweeted that Schwarzenegger was awake, adding: “His first words were actually ‘I’m back’, so he is in good spirits.”

It isn’t the first time the seven-time Mr Olympia, affectionately known as Arnie, has undergone heart surgery.

He had elective surgery to replace a defective, congenital aortic heart valve in 1997, when he was 50.

The former actor opted against having a mechanical valve because he thought it might limit his ability to exercise, which he was still obsessed with.

In his biography, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, he admitted that he hid the major procedure from his ex-wife Maria Shriver.

He later claimed he coped with his health problems by “ignoring how serious the operation” actually was.

“I have been in denial all my life,” Schwarzenegger told the Express. “I was in denial when I had to have heart surgery.”

“When I was waiting for my first heart surgery in my mind I was going to have a tooth pulled.

“I was still playing pool at midnight and thinking this was just a minor thing that had nothing to with my body.

“My grandmother and mother died from the same thing. I came home (from the operation) and started cycling.

“It was a stupid thing to do but I couldn’t get my head around the fact that I’d need surgery.”

The intensity of bodybuilding puts competitors’ bodies — and hearts — under great duress, according to Livestrong.

A report published in a 2006 edition of Cardiology magazine said lifting more than half your body weight puts your heart in jeopardy.

This article was originally published in The Sun and has been reproduced here with permission.

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