Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was released from a hospital Saturday, four days after undergoing surgery to repair a broken leg suffered while skiing.
Schwarzenegger, 59, expects to walk with crutches when he is sworn in Friday to begin his second term. In a statement released by his office, the governor said the injury had not dampened his optimism for the coming year.
“It was fantastic to return home today as my family prepares to celebrate the New Year together,” Schwarzenegger said. “I am feeling good and looking forward to beginning 2007” with the inauguration, the State of the State address and a budget proposal to the Legislature.
Schwarzenegger broke his right thigh bone last weekend while skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho. In a 90-minute operation Tuesday, doctors at St. John’s Health Center used screws and cables to link the broken fragments of the bone.
Schwarzenegger’s orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Kevin Ehrhart, said patients typically need eight weeks to heal from such a fracture.
The broken leg was the governor’s third medical problem in less than a year. In January, he needed 15 stitches to repair a cut lip after his motorcycle collided with a car near his Los Angeles home. Last December, he spent several hours at a hospital with a rapid heartbeat after coming down with stomach flu.