Iconic news host Larry King is currently in the intensive care unit after suffering a severe health scare before a scheduled procedure. King, who revealed his lung cancer diagnosis in September of 2017, was preparing to check himself into the hospital for an angiogram when, according to TMZ, he went into cardiac arrest.
TMZ reported that King was then taken to hospital by ambulance, where they performed an angioplasty. He has had heart problems for over 30 years, and has suffered two heart attacks in the past. The 85-year-old King was put in the cardiac intensive care unit. However, there are some discrepancies as to what actually happened.
As mentioned, TMZ reports that King's wife was told he suffered a mild heart attack and that there were proteins in his blood, which confirms their diagnosis. King's rep, however, denied those reports.
On the morning of Thursday, April 23, Larry King was scheduled for an angioplasty. Before his scheduled procedure, he experienced angina and went to the hospital early to be examined.His doctor successfully performed the angioplasty and inserted stents to reopen the previous bypass from 1987.
He has been recuperating in the hospital and is scheduled to be released soon. His doctors expect him to make a full recovery.
To be clear, and contrary to published reports, his doctors say he did not have a heart attack and he did not go into cardiac arrest.
Larry is in good spirits and thanks everyone for their concern. He's expected to be back to work on his shows, Larry King Now and PoliticKING with Larry King soon.
A source for People simply stated that the legendary talk show host suffered an "episode."
"He is okay right now," the source said. "He had an episode with his heart over the weekend and he had an artery opened up and some stents put in. But he's remarkably strong. His doctors even say they don't know how he bounces back from everything so quickly. If there's a blockage or collapsed artery, they have a surgery room next door where they do an angioplasty, which is what happened."
King has always managed to bounce back quickly after medical issues. After his lung cancer diagnosis in 2017, King was only off for a week.
"I didn't have any pain, but when they took a chest x-ray the doctor said, "˜There's a little cloud here...,'" he recalled. "They said I was lucky and smart to get annual chest X-rays because lung cancer doesn't give you any signs until it's in late stages. They went in through my ribs with a tiny camera and snipped it out. I only had a little pain and some shortness of breath but once my speech is back full "” and that took about a week "” I went right back to work."
King is expected to be released from hospital within the next day.
We wish Larry King a speedy recovery!