We had a lovely 3 days at the Las Vegas Grand Prix mid-November and brought home a very special souvenir: a case of Covid, each. This was our first go at the coronavirus as I am an inveterate masker. During pandemic times we’ve been to Hawaii, England, Scotland, Norway –all without getting the virus.

And yet, it caught up with us.

How I think it happened.

Usually I wear a very tight-fitting N95 mask with Respokare anti-viral technology. I won’t say they’re the most comfortable masks in the world, but they’ve done the trick. In Vegas, though, I usually wore an KN94 that was more comfortable but less tight fitting. And I was unmasked in the Mercedes suite because I felt we were isolated enough. Maybe not..

No one else was masked in the suite. That normally wouldn’t bother me. I’m often the only masked person in a group. But this time I threw caution to the wind and I regret it.

During my two-week Covid ordeal, I alternated between thinking “it was worth it” and “death would be a mercy.”

Although we have Paxlovid at home, our doctor suggested that we try to gut it out without taking the drug. That’s because the rebound rate is about 20% and apparently the side effects are yucky. So we are gutted it out.

How I felt.

For days my head felt like it was stuffed with cotton candy–which, to be honest, was the worst part– and there were times when every bone in my body ached. The sore throat started to go away on Day 2 and I only ran a very low grade fever once in a while. The sneezes were titanious–as my husband terms them–just so much fun. Definitely a little bit of a dry cough the first day or two. Then again on day 5 and 6.

Sleeping was difficult with the head cold and it felt like forever for the symptoms to ameliorate. Two weeks. Improvement was inexorably slow.

PLUS I lost my senses of smell and taste right away. It was very strange to feel the texture of food without flavor. Smell and taste did begin to return on Day 6 and then got better inch by inch as the head congestion eased. But don’t let me kid you: it took a really look time to see significant improvement in congestion.

We have all seven vaccines on board so we are well-protected from serious effects. I took zinc daily, too, to help reduce symptoms more quickly. I’m not sure it did much.

Oh, and Michael? His case was milder than mine–maybe three days. Max. Of course. Mine took so long I feared long Covid. Still do.

Get up to date on your vaccinations

And talking about vaccines, there’s so much misunderstanding about them. My bottom line is that you show your ignorance by saying you won’t be vaccinated again, especially if you are over 60 . That you’ve had enough vaccines. All that does is tell me you have no understanding of how vaccines work.

“I don’t know what’s in it” someone said to me. Oh, right. Hearing this from people who take all sorts of other pharmaceuticals makes me shake my head and fear they are listening to some of their less than intelligent friends and acquaintances.

A friend reminded me of the “covid deniers” of days past, even as refrigerated trucks piled with dead bodies lined the streets of New York. Vaccine deniers are like this.

And I do know people who think this way. But my most intelligent friends do not. I’m through trying to convince people that vaccination is smart. Instead, I sit in judgment. Because it tells me a lot about people. And I’m ok with that.

Look, if you’re 30 and healthy, I might have another opinion, but if you’re over 60, why take a chance? My friends who suffer long covid say it is is AWFUL.

If I felt this awful with all my vax, I can’t even imagine what I’d feel like if I were not up to date.