Jeff Bridges.Photo: Jesal/Diggzy/Shutterstock

Exclusive - A healthy looking Jeff Bridges was seen for the first time in over a year after he informed the world that he had cancer, Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA - 20 Sep 2021

Jeff Bridgeswas seen taking a walk a week after revealing his cancer was in remission.

Last Monday, Bridges revealedhis lymphomawas in remission after months of treatment. “The 9” x 12" mass has shrunk down to the size of a marble," he wrote inan update on his website.

Bridges said that his cancer fight has been a “piece of cake” compared to his bout with COVID-19, whichhe contracted in Januarybefore he was able to get vaccinated. The Oscar winner said that on Jan. 7 he got a letter from the clinic where he was undergoing chemotherapy that said he may have been exposed to COVID-19 at the site.

“Soon after, my wife Sue and I share an ambulance to the ICU. We both got the ‘rona,” he said.

Susan Geston Bridges and Jeff Bridges.Matt Baron/REX/Shutterstock

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“Sue spends 5 days in the hospital. Me…? I’m there 5 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.”

Bridges said he was near death while dealing with COVID-19, but it gave him a better appreciation for life.

“While I had moments of tremendous pain (screaming singing, a sort of moaning song all through the night) getting close to the Pearly Gates, all in all, I felt happy and joyous most of the time,” he said. “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.”

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Bridges said that his COVID-19 is now “in the rearview mirror” and that getting vaccinated improved his long-term symptoms.

“COVID kicked my ass pretty good, but I’m double vaccinated and feeling much better now,” he said. “I heard that the vaccine can help folks with long haulers. Maybe that’s the cause of my quick improvement.”

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Bridges said that COVID-19 changed his perspective on life.

“We, (I) often want some other gift that life isn’t giving us. I mean, who would want to get cancer and COVID? Well…it turns out I would. I would because I get to learn more about love and learn things that I never would have if I never got it,” he said.

“Here’s a FLASH I had — home is the place where a person can receive, give and learn about love,” he continued. “And that place, home, is really wherever you are at any given moment, right now, for instance.”

source: people.com