American actor Jeff Bridges says his fight with cancer was ‘piece of cake’ compared to catching Covid-19
Actor Jeff Bridges, star of films ranging from “The Big Lebowski” to “Tron,” said he has apparently won his battle with lymphoma, but his bout with Covid-19 made his experience suffering from cancer “look like a piece of cake.”
“My cancer is in remission,” Bridges said on Monday on his website. “The 9X12 mass has shrunk down to the size of a marble. My Covid is in the rearview mirror. Covid kicked my ass pretty good, but I’m double-vaccinated and feeling much better now.”
The 71-year-old actor, who announced his cancer diagnosis in October 2020, said he received a notice in January indicating that he may have been exposed to Covid-19 while undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Soon after, he and his wife, Susan Geston, tested positive for the virus and were taken to the hospital by ambulance. While Geston was hospitalized for five days, Bridges wound up in intensive care for five weeks.
“The reason I’m there so long is because my immune system is shot from the chemo,” Bridges said in another post he apparently did not share until now. “My dance with Covid makes my cancer look like a piece of cake.”
The actor said he suffered “moments of tremendous pain” and felt himself “getting close to the pearly gates.” He described “scream-signing, a sort of moaning song all through the night.”
Bridges said his “brush with mortality” gave him a gift: learning that life is “brief and beautiful,” and that “love is all around us and available at all times.” He said that until recently, he needed oxygen assistance, but he met his goal of walking his daughter, Hayley, down the aisle at her wedding and dancing with her at the reception.
Bridges won an Academy Award for best actor for his role as an alcoholic singer in the 2009 film, “Crazy Heart.” He’s perhaps best known for his role as “The Dude” in “The Big Lebowski.”
With his health crises now behind him, Bridges said he’s excited to get back to work on “The Old Man,” an upcoming television series based on a Thomas Perry novel of the same name.
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