KATHY BATES is a recognisable and popular American actress. Having had success on both stage and screen, the star’s breakthrough role was in the tense psychological thriller Misery, for which she one an Academy Award. Yet off screen, the star has had a turbulent health history.

The actress who has also won two Primetime Emmy awards and two Golden Globe awards, is best known for her roles in NBC series Harry’s Law and the ninth series of Two and a Half Men. Yet back in 2003, Bates was stuck with a devastating ovarian cancer diagnosis. Her battle with the condition led to her having a hysterectomy – surgical removal of the womb – and nine rounds of chemotherapy. After overcoming the condition, disaster struck again, this time in 2012 when Bates was diagnosed with breast cancer.

With a strong family history of the disease, after both her mother and aunt had been diagnosed with breast cancer, the actress barely hesitated before deciding on a double mastectomy – surgery that removes the entire breast.

“When the doctor told me that I had a tumor in my left breast, I said, ‘make mine a double. Take them both off. I wasn’t taking any chances,” she is reported saying in a previous interview with Practical Pain Management.

“Breast cancer runs like a river through my family. My mother and niece had it; my aunt died of it.”

Despite testing negative for possessing the breast cancer gene BRCA, the star took the illness in her stride, bravely having the surgical procedure to minimise her risk of the cancer returning. Having fought off two types of cancer, and losing both her uterus and breasts in the process, things were not over for the American Horror Story actress as she developed a condition known as lymphedema.

SurvivorNet explains that lymphedema is a condition in which extra lymph fluid – clear fluid that travels through the lymphatic system and helps to fight infection and disease – builds up in tissues and causes swelling, typically in the arm and hand.

“Then I got something called lymphedema,” Bates explained when appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show back 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, often times, the fluid will back up in the affected limb.”