Fighting for His Life, Arnold Schwarzenegger Got a 60% Success Promise from the Doctor Performing Heart Surgery on Him (Book)

The road to the top for 7X Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger has not been a bed of roses. He faced a fair deal of struggles and difficulties before becoming a household figure. After making a huge name for himself in the realm of bodybuilding, and winning almost everything that the sport had to offer, Arnold’s entry into Hollywood was like a rebirth for him. All the glitz and glamor that he has always imagined since his childhood finally came into existence. 

However, his struggles with heart-related troubles were not very easy to conquer. While many might assume that Arnold Schwarzenegger had heart problems due to the usage of steroids as is the case for many bodybuilders, what Arnold was going through was a consequence of a genetic condition. Recently, Schwarzenegger explained the difficult situation that he was left in by the doctors when he was told the ground reality about a surgery that he was supposed to go through back in 1997.

Arnold Schwarzenegger explains his dilemma

While ‘The Austrian Oak’ is in the best of his health at the moment, despite being 76 years old, his earlier battles with health conditions was a tough phase for him. He was born with a heart defect called aortic stenosis, which causes the heart to pump harder than usual to get blood through the aortic valve. In a recent book that Arnold Schwarzenegger made public, he explains in detail about this. In his book ‘Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story,’ Schwarzenegger revealed that he was told by the doctor that the surgery is only successful sixty to seventy percent times. 

He explained further that while there is an option to get a mechanical valve, considering the career that Arnold was into, it was better to go for an organic valve which is made of living tissue. “You can continue doing stunts, you can continue doing sports, you can go skiing, you can go motorcycle riding, horseback riding—whatever you want to do,” the doctor explained.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote in the book, “The particular procedure he recommended worked only six times out of ten. “I want you to understand that in sixty percent to seventy percent of cases the surgery works, but in thirty percent to forty percent of the cases, the replacement valve fails,” he said.”

Arnold being Arnold, opted for it nonetheless as he wanted to continue his Hollywood ventures as well as lift weights for the rest of his life. Concluding the incident, he wrote, “Then we have to go back in and try again.” Big risk, big reward. That made sense to me. “It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll take the risk.” 

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The story serves as another reminder of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s strength and determination. What are your views on this? Let us know in the comments.