The “persistent cough” that Rita Wilson has had for over two years after catching COVID-19 is still going strong.
The 65-year-old singer-actress and her husband Tom Hanks were the first celebrities to publicly admit they had caught the virus in the early days of the pandemic in March 2020, and while the ‘Asteroid City star is still feeling the effects of the illness, she considers herself “very lucky” that things aren’t worse.
When asked if the infection had impaired her respiration, she responded: “It was. Unfortunately. This has resulted in a cough that has yet to go away.
At night, it becomes significantly more difficult to see. Just learn to live with it. It might have been a lot worse, so I know I should count my blessings.
Not the worst thing ever. Not that I’m particularly concerned about it.”
Rita Wilson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, and she told her husband, the father of her two kids Chet, 32, and Truman, 26, that she wanted him to be sad “for a very, very, very, very long time” if she died, but she also told him to throw a party in her honor.
What did she say? “Okay, look: if something happens and I should go before you, then I truly want two things to happen, as I explained to him:
“Tom, I told you that I want you to be sad for a very long time. Second, “I want you to throw me a party,” because I think life should be celebrated.”
While she was “exhausted,” the ‘Mamma Mia!’ star is glad she went back to work in the Broadway production of ‘Fish in the Dark opposite Larry David just a month after undergoing a double mastectomy.
She explained to the British magazine Telegraph: “I’ve made it my mission to show that things will get back to normal after surgery, so in a month I’ll be back at my desk. It’s what I did.
“As an aftereffect, I feel completely spent. I put on the play, but that was pretty much all I could manage between sleeping all day and performing it in the evening.
But I’m so glad that I was able to complete the race. Once I say I’ll do something, you can count on me to follow through. Never have I been one to give up easily. However, the process was not easy.”
In January, Rita was devastated by the news that singer Olivia Newton-John had passed away after a prolonged fight with breast cancer.
That’s what she told me, she explained “Olivia Newton-John was adored by the masses, and I count myself among the lucky few who got to know her personally.
In many ways, she served as an inspiration to those of us who have overcome breast cancer. Because she never stopped moving, she never stopped being alive.
Her perseverance and strength would ultimately enable her to overcome its inevitable return. That she was so forthright about it struck me as really brave. Doing so is quite challenging.”