The actress Kathy Bates, who is well-known for her work in theater and film, made her feature film debut in the Oscar-nominated horror film Misery.
The star’s personal medical history isn’t as perfect as it first appears. The actress is most known for her roles in the NBC sitcom Harry’s Law and the ninth season of Two and a Half Men, for which she won two Primetime Emmys and two Golden Globes.
Sadly, in 2003, Bates discovered she had ᴏᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴ ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ.
Hysterectomy (the removal of the ᴡᴏᴍʙ) and nine courses of chemotherapy were the results of her fight against the disease. ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛ ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ recurred in Bates two years after she was declared ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ-ғʀᴇᴇ.
The actress had a double ᴍᴀsᴛᴇᴄᴛᴏᴍʏ after she found that her mother and aunt also suffered from ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛ ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ.
“When the doctor told me I had a tumor in my left ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛ, I exclaimed, ‘Make mine a double,’” I explained. Take them both out. “I wasn’t going to take any chances,” she explained in a previous interview with Practical Pain Management.
“My family is awash in ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛ ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ. My aunt, mother, and niece all d!ed due to it.”
The American Horror Story star underwent risky surgery in order to lessen the likelihood of a recurrence of ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ despite the fact that she tested negative for the BRCA ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛ ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ gene. How gracefully she bore her illness.
The actress lost her uterus and both ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛs to ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ, but her troubles were far from over because she also developed lymphedema.
As defined by SurvivorNet, Lymphedema is a condition characterized by swelling of the arm and hand caused by an abnormal accumulation of lymph fluid, a clear fluid that travels through the lymphatic system and aids in the body’s defense against illness and infection.
“Then I had lymphedema,” Bates explained on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2019.
“I’m not sure you’ve heard, but they remove lymph nodes to treat ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ. When your lymph system is compromised, fluid typically accumulates in the affected leg.”
Bates revealed her frustration at being diagnosed with lymphedema so soon after ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛ surgery.
“As soon as I woke up, I felt a peculiar sensation, almost like a tingling, in my left arm,” she explained.
“I went nuts. I raced out of the exam room and out the door. What precisely am I doing? I wondered as I hugged a pillow to my chest while still wearing my drains. I’m standing outside in the middle of July. It’s hot, I’m still recuperating, and I don’t want to injure anyone.
“I was outraged beyond belief. I believe it resulted from having battled ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ twice and knowing that this affliction would always be with me.”
“I felt bitter and depressed. I assumed that my professional career was over and that everything was finished.”
The National Health Service suggests beginning treatment for lymphoedema as soon as possible to halt its progression.
More Americans are affected by this than by AIDS, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophy, and ALS combined, it is estimated at 10 million.
They don’t tell us to “just go eat a salad” when we complain to our doctors about our swollen legs because we’re overweight, she said, and no one seems to be aware of the problem.
This disease not only gets worse, but it also progresses and cannot be cured. You can get admitted to the hospital since there are approximately 50,000 adults who were born with congenital infections.
According to the National Health Service (NHS), lymphoedema’s major symptoms are treatable by using measures that limit fluid accumulation.