Dr. Boothe's COVID-19 Experience

​After a so-so vacation in Florida in June ("so-so" because of an algae bloom in the Gulf and nearby construction noise) my wife and had a 3-hour layover in San Francisco before flying to Salt Lake City. It’s only about an hour flight, but time in the plane is about two hours due to taxiing and waiting to take off. The plane was a smaller one; only two seats on each side of the aisle. Great for us as we didn’t have to sit by someone we didn’t know. 

Across from us and one row in front sat a man I immediately thought looked ill. (I’m sure you know where I’m going with this.) He kept wiping his brow and looked miserable. I would guess he lifted his mask and coughed down into the open space at his feet about 15 times, maybe more. I told my wife, “That man has COVID.”

I'm pretty sure I was right.

My wife started having symptoms later that week and tested positive the following week, both with tests she brought home from work and at InstaCare. I tested positive about a week after her so it may be she got it from the guy on the plane and I got it from her. No way of knowing for sure.

We were masked, of course. My wife wears cloth masks that snuggly cover her nose while I use disposable masks. I can't breathe well in a mask so I pull mine down off my nose quite often; my wife doesn't at all.

I think it's safe to say we have (further) proved that masks don't protect you from contracting SARS-CoV-2, or likely any other highly contagious infectant. And, you're at the mercy of others, like the man who sat across from us, hoping they'll use proper protocol when coughing or sneezing. He didn't. And to put a finer point on it, he shouldn't have been on the plane in the first place. Everyone has to digitally agree not to board a plane if they have symptoms of COVID-19.

I wasn’t nervous or concerned about me getting real sick, I was more worried about my wife who has had longstanding respiratory issues, including a bout of “walking pneumonia" and frequent bronchitis. However, I had her taking what I would call a preventative dose of an herbal lung formula throughout the pandemic and aside from a few days of mildly difficult breathing, she did better than I did. At least she didn’t have a week of on-and-off low-grade fever like I did. I haven’t had the flu in at least 13-15 years and when I did I felt far worse than I did with COVID-19 (though COVID-19 lasted longer).

When the fever stopped I was left with sinus symptoms: constant mucus dripping down the back of my throat that stimulated a coughing reflex. I spent almost a week of miserable nights hacking away before I remembered an herbal sinus formula stashed in the back of the supplement cabinet. Two squirts in the back of the mouth effectively stopped the mucus production for up to twelve hours; I was finally able to sleep through the night. If I had remembered it earlier I would have saved myself a week of unnecessary coughing and lost sleep.

Our experience with COVID-19 is fairly typical for what we hear people around us say now. Most say it was like a mild cold. Others, mostly ones with comorbidities, aren't so fortunate.

As for the supplements we used, my wife has done very well over the years with Emergen-C and AirBorne, and they seemed to help her quite a bit with her COVID-19 symptoms. Me, not so much. I tried them for a few days before going back to taking 1,000 mg vitamin C tablets throughout the day. Still, I can’t say anything I took really did much for me except the sinus spray called S-Clear™ from Natura. It was remarkably effective at drying up my sinuses without the nasty side effects OTC sprays have, like leaving you addicted to them.

Everyone is different, of course.

Some might say I should have taken my wife to the ER when she had restricted breathing. I thought of it at the time and was ready to go if it looked like her breathing was getting worse. As I wrote, it was very mild and did not get worse. Also, when we went to InstaCare early on, she wrote on her intake form about the restricted breathing and not only did the doctor who saw us not exam her, he didn’t even ask her about it.

We have not had any COVID-19 vaccine. We thought we got the virus in March, 2020, (but now think we got something else) and so think we didn't need one. I suppose it’s possible we contracted it a second time, but I seriously doubt it. That doesn't happen as often as the media would like us to think it does. My wife has reacted poorly to several medications so it’s unlikely she’ll ever get one of the shots. 

As for me, now that I’ve had the virus I feel I’m better protected from it than I would be if I had been only vaccinated. The CDC might disagree, but there’s more evidence I’m right than there is backing up the CDC’s claim that people who have had the virus should get the shots anyway.

Which brings me to the topic of my next post:

Is natural immunity from having contracted SARS-CoV-2 and survived better, the same, or worse than the immunity granted by the various COVID-19 vaccinations in use?

I’ve run into some good information I’d like to share.