Kathy Bates is a powerhouse of talent, known for being both terrifying and hilarious in her many roles. She’s won awards for her performances in comedies, dramas, and thrillers, but her toughest role yet might be her real-life battle with health issues.
At 75, Bates is a two-time cancer survivor living with lymphedema, a condition she developed after having her uterus, breasts, and lymph nodes removed. While this role may not earn her a Hollywood award, she’s gained global recognition as an inspiration.
Born in Tennessee, Kathy Bates has wowed audiences on stage and screen, especially in movies like Misery, Primary Colors, Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell, and American Horror Story: Coven. She started her career in the early 1970s and has earned several nominations for her impressive performances.
In 2003, just a year after surprising audiences by appearing nude in About Schmidt with Jack Nicholson, Bates was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Then in 2012, she faced breast cancer, resulting in a double mastectomy.
But her health struggles didn’t end there.
“I Went Berserk”
“Then I got something called lymphedema,” she told Kelly Clarkson on her show in 2019. “I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but for cancer, they remove lymph nodes. If your lymph system is damaged, the fluid will back up in the affected limb.”
Lymphedema happens when the lymph nodes are removed during cancer treatment, causing fluid buildup in tissues, often resulting in swelling in the arm and hand. For Bates, the hardest part wasn’t the cancer itself but dealing with lymphedema.
“I went berserk,” she told SurvivorNet. “I left the examining room and ran out of the building. I still had my drains in, I was holding a pillow to my chest, and I thought, ‘What am I doing? It’s July, I’m standing out here, it’s hot, I’m still healing, I don’t want to hurt anything.’”
Bates added: “I was bitter, I was depressed. I thought my career was over, I thought, ‘There’s no way, I’m done, everything is done.’”
Though lymphedema is incurable and progressive, it is manageable. According to the National Health Service (NHS), its major symptoms can be treated to limit fluid accumulation.
“Light Inside”
Bates found hope with a lymphedema expert who helped her cope. “I went to her, still angry, told her all of my tales. And she said, ‘Well, that’s all in the past, and now you’re going to begin the rest of your life.’” Bates added, “Some people just have light inside.”
Along with treatments and compression sleeves for her arms, Bates found healing in helping others. Now an advocate for lymphedema, she’s the national spokesperson for the Lymphatic Education and Research Network (LE&RN). She uses her celebrity status to bring awareness to the condition. “It’s estimated that 10 million people in this country suffer with it,” she told Clarkson. “That’s more than ALS, muscular dystrophy, MS, Parkinson’s, and AIDS combined.”
Bates also emphasized the importance of a proper diagnosis. “Nobody knows about it and especially if we’re big girls and we go to a doctor and say, ‘I don’t feel right, my legs are swelling’ they say, ‘Oh, just go have a salad,’” she explained.
Despite her health challenges, Bates hasn’t slowed down. She appeared in 2023’s The Miracle Club and continues to inspire with her resilience. “I didn’t want to have cancer…and I really don’t want to have lymphedema…I feel blessed [to have the condition] because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be in a position to use my celebrity to do something that can maybe help people.”
Kathy Bates is truly inspiring, and she shows how fame can be used for good!
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