Jeff Bridges Shares Health Update Saying Tumor Has Shrunk “To The Size Of A Marble”
Jeff Bridges is sharing an update on his health following a cancer diagnosis and a grave case of Covid-19 at the beginning of 2021.
The Old Man star recently recalled his first season filming the show during an interview with AARP saying that he had been “doing those fight scenes for the first episode” not knowing he “had a 9-by-12-inch tumor in my body.”
Bridges would soon undergo chemotherapy but in January of 2021, he was informed that he had contracted Covid as his immune system was weakened due to the cancer treatment.
“I had no immune system to fight it. Chemo had wiped that out, which made it really, really tough,” he said. “For me, cancer was nothing compared to the Covid.”
The actor said he would go into “surrender mode” and had initially accepted it was his time.
“I couldn’t understand how you’d fight it. So I fought by surrendering, which is not the same as giving up,” he added. “What I really felt at the time was love. Love was certainly magnified for me during this time. Not only from the people around me, but also the love in my own heart for them. So what I did was more like giving in to love, you know?”
Bridges would end up spending five months in the hospital and was treated using plasma from other patients that had recovered from Covid. He credits his wife Sue as his “absolute champion,” noting, “She really fought to keep me off a ventilator. I didn’t want to be on it, and the doctors didn’t necessarily want that. But Sue was adamant.”
As Season of The Old Man begins, Bridges says the “tumor has shrunk to the size of a marble.”
“I’m so blessed to have this cast,” he said, adding, “to talk to and jam with. To get back to doing what invigorates you — it feels great, man.”
Source: Deadline
