“Lots has gone down since my last installment,” Jeff Bridges wrote in a hand-written note posted to his website on Monday (Sept. 13). “My cancer is in remission – the 9” x 12” mass has shrunk to the size of a marble.” The 71-year-old actor announced in October 2020 that he was diagnosed with lymphoma, but it seems that treatment has been incredibly successful. The True Grit star also gave an update on his COVID-19 battle, saying that it was “in the rearview mirror.”
“COVID kicked my ass pretty good,” added Jeff, “but I’m double vaccinated and feeling much better now. I heard that the vaccine can keep folks with long haulers. Maybe that’s the cause of my quick improvement.” Jeff added that he’s been working with a “great therapist” and is concentrating on “getting me off the oxygen assistance, which until recently, I’ve been needing to walk around. The sound it makes reminds me of Darth Vader.” Jeff also said that working with his “terrific medical team,” he was able to walk his daughter, Hayley Bridges, down the aisle without oxygen. He could even do the father/Bridge dance with her, and Jeff shared a video of them cutting a rug at her wedding.
Jeff also linked to a March 28 entry about his COVID diagnosis, one that he wrote but didn’t want to publish until he got a handle on his COVID disease… On Jan. 7, Jeff said he got a letter from the place where he was getting his “chemo infusion for the cancer,” telling him that he might have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus at the joint. “Soon after, my wife, Sue, and I share an ambulance to the ICA. We both got ‘the Rona.’” Jeff said that Sue spent five days in the hospital, and he was there for five weeks. “The reason I’m there so long is because my immune system is shot from the chemo. My dance with COVID makes my cancer look like a piece of cake.”
“But, here’s the weird deal,” he added. “While I had moments of tremendous pain…getting close to ‘the Pearly Gates,’ all in all, I felt happy and joyous most of the time. This brush with mortality has brought me a real gift: life is brief and beautiful. Love is all around us, and available at all times.” The Dude abides.