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'It's true: I'm back!' Arnold Schwarzenegger tweets after heart surgery

arnold-schwarzenegger

Quoting his famous Terminator catchphrase, Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced he is back on Twitter after undergoing open heart surgery last week.

He thanked his team of doctors and nurses, and expressed 'gratitude' for his fans.

"I went to sleep expecting to wake up with a small incision and woke up with a big one - but guess what? I woke up, and that's something to be thankful for," the 70-year-old wrote.

"Thank you to the doctors & nurses. And I'm truly filled with gratitude for all of the kind messages."

The True Lies actor and former California governor had the operation after complications from a less-invasive procedure at a Los Angeles hospital.

His spokesperson, Daniel Ketchell, said on Twitter that on Thursday, Schwarzenegger "underwent a planned procedure to replace a pulmonic valve that was originally replaced due to a congenital heart defect in 1997."

Ketchell said the actor was in "good spirits" following the surgery.