Actor Jeff Bridges says tumour shrank, COVID-19 'in rear view mirror'
Bridges said he was stuck in a hospital bed for five weeks because of COVID-19 and was even "getting close to the Pearly Gates" at one point because his immune system was shot from chemotherapy.
Susan Geston, left, and Jeff Bridges arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Bridges announced on his website Monday, Sept. 13, 2021 that his cancer was in remission and that he and his wife Susan Geston also recovered from COVID-19. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Jeff Bridges says his cancer is in remission and his COVID-19 case is "in the rear view mirror".
The actor shared the good news on his website on Monday (Sep 13), saying his tumour shrank from 12 inches (30.5cm) to the size of a marble. But in an update he said he wrote back in March and is sharing only now that he's feeling better, Bridges said he and his wife, Susan Geston, were infected with COVID-19 in January while he was undergoing chemotherapy.
"Covid kicked my a** pretty good, but I'm double vaccinated & feeling much better now," he wrote.
Bridges said Geston spent five days in the hospital, but he was stuck in a hospital bed for five weeks and was even "getting close to the Pearly Gates" at one point because his immune system was shot. Recovery was difficult, he said – until recently, he's needed oxygen support just to walk around. But with the help of an excellent medical team, he was finally able to walk his daughter, Hayley, down the aisle and dance with her at her wedding to "a wonderful guy, Justin Shane".
Bridges, 71, posted a video of the father-daughter dance, as well as a trailer for The Old Man, a television series he's starring in and executive-producing. The FX series had been scheduled to premiere this year, before cancer and COVID-19 got in the way. "I'm excited to get back to work," he wrote.
Bridges has been an advocate for mask-wearing and social distancing since early in the pandemic, even doing a public service video for the hospital association of Montana, where he's a part-time resident, showing how far he stays away from The Dude, his character from The Big Lebowski.
