Rita Wilson said her experience with breast cancer prepared her for the shock of getting the coronavirus: 'You realize you're not immune'

• Rita Wilson talked about her and her husband Tom Hanks' recent COVID-19 diagnoses in an interview with Health magazine.
• Wilson said her 2015 breast cancer diagnosis, which she has since recovered from, prepared her mentally for getting COVID-19.
• Wilson was given the anti-malarial drug chloroquine while in Australia to treat her symptoms.
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Actress and singer Rita Wilson is opening up about she and husband Tom Hanks' COVID-19 diagnoses, which made headlines when the couple both became infected during a trip to Australia in early March. They were among the first high-profile celebrities to publicly speak about getting COVID-19.

In an interview with Health magazine editor Bethany Heitman, Wilson talked about her career, previous breast cancer diagnosis and recovery, and how that diagnosis mentally prepared her for falling ill with COVID-19.

Wilson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and had a double mastectomy to prevent the cancer from returning. She's been cancer-free since, but told Heitman that getting cancer helped her realize she wasn't immune to any illness, COVID-19 included.

"You always think that bad things happen to other people — until it happens to you, and you realize you're not immune to it. It was similar with my breast cancer diagnosis," Wilson said.

She also said that she had thought about what would happen if she and her husband Hanks got COVID-19, and shortly after, they were both diagnosed.

"While all this was going on, I actually said to Tom, 'Before breast cancer, it was a thing that was sort of in the distance or something that happens to other people.' And then I said, 'But I don't feel that way anymore. I mean, who's to say we won't get [COVID-19]?' And then we got it," Wilson said. "It was so strange. But we had really great medical care, and thankfully we are doing well."

Wilson was treated with the anti-malarial drug chloroquine

Wilson said that her fever spiked at 102 degrees after being sick for nine days, so doctors in Australia decided to give her the anti-malarial drug chloroquine, which is being used as an experimental treatment for COVID-19.

The drug isn't a proven treatment for the coronavirus, but instead was approved for use in the United States in 1949 for malaria. Some research suggests it could also help with treating COVID-19, but there isn't enough research to widely use the drug of patients.

Additionally, doctors worry about the severe side effects that can result from taking chloroquine, like extreme nausea and vertigo. Wilson said she experienced these symptoms while taking the pill.

"My fever did break, but the chloroquine had such extreme side effects. I was completely nauseous, and I had vertigo. I could not walk, and my muscles felt very weak," Wilson said. "I think people have to be very considerate about that drug. We don't really know if it's helpful in this case."

Since talking about her experience on CBS This Morning in mid-April, Wilson and Hanks have both recovered from COVID-19.