You are truly amazing, Angelique. Never listen to anyone who tries to convince you otherwise. Thank you, Marianne, for being a wonderful mother and for always reassuring my children that Kathy Bates is a household name in America. The actress, who has enjoyed both stage and film success, broke out with her dramatic psychological thriller Misery, which earned her an Academy Award nomination. But off-camera, this celebrity has a difficult medical history.
Already a two-time Golden Globe winner and two-time Primetime Emmy winner, she starred in the ninth season of Two and a Half Men and on the NBC sitcom Harry’s Law. He is best known for his role in. Meanwhile, Bates was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2003.
As a result of her battle with the disease, she underwent a hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus) and nine courses of chemotherapy. Bates was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, two years after recovering.
With a strong family history of breast cancer and after finding that both her mother and aunt had the condition, the actress decided to have a double mastectomy, which includes removing both breasts.
“When the doctor told me I had a tumor in my left breast, I yelled, ‘Make mine a double,’” I said. Take them both out. “I wasn’t taking any chances,” she said in a prior interview with Practical Pain Management.
“A river of breast cancer runs through my family. My aunt, mother, and niece all died as a result of it.”
Despite testing negative for the BRCA breast cancer gene, the actress bravely underwent surgical treatment to reduce the risk of recurrence. She endured her illness with dignity. The American Horror Story star battled two types of cancer and lost her uterus and breasts, but her troubles aren’t over as she also developed lymphedema.
According to SurvivorNet, lymphedema is a condition that causes swelling in her arms and hands, primarily caused by the buildup of excess lymph fluid. Lymph is a clear fluid that circulates through the lymphatic system and helps protect the body from disease and infection.
“Then I had something called lymphedema,” Bates said on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2019.
“I’m not sure whether you’ve heard, but they remove lymph nodes to treat cancer. When your lymph system is impaired, fluid frequently accumulates in the affected leg.”
Bates admitted to being annoyed when she found she had lymphedema while still recovering from breast surgery.
“As soon as I woke up, I experienced a strange sensation, almost like a tingling, in my left arm,” she told SurvivorNet.
“I went insane. I dashed out of the exam room and out the door. What exactly am I doing? As I clutched a pillow to my chest while still wearing my drains, I wondered. I’m standing outside in the middle of July, it’s hot, I’m still healing, and I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“I was enraged beyond belief. I suppose it was the effect of having battled cancer twice and recognizing that this condition would always be with me.”
“I felt bitter and depressed. I thought my professional career was gone and that everything was done.”
The NHS warns that lymphoedema should be treated as soon as possible to prevent it from worsening.
It is estimated that 10 million people in the United States are affected. “That is greater than ALS, MS, Parkinson’s, muscular dystrophy, and AIDS combined.”
“Nobody knows about it, and if we’re big ladies and go to the doctor with swollen legs, they tell us to ‘just go eat a salad,’” she continued.
It worsens, it is incurable, and it progresses. There are around 50,000 people who have grown up with congenital infections; they can put you in the hospital.
