For many years, the actress Kathy Bates was a mainstay on television and in motion pictures.

She is renowned for portraying fierce characters, and in real life, she is equally menacing.

The actress had to make some very drastic changes after receiving a chronic condition diagnosis…

Kathy Bates moved to New York in 1970 to pursue a career in acting. She remembers how, despite not being particularly inventive, she was able to make it work at the time.. “I was never an ingenue,” she says. “I’ve always just been a character actor. When I was younger, it was a real problem, because I was never pretty enough. It was hard, not just for the lack of work, but because you have to face up to how people are looking at you,” Bates said.

When she played Stella May in Come Back To The Five And Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean in 1980, her broadway career took off. Characters that the actress played a few times were never adapted for the big screen. But as soon as she turned 42, she became almost instantly successful thanks to her portrayal of a psychotic fan in the film Misery, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for best actress.

She discussed the types of roles she had, stating, “You’re either young and glamorous and you’re going to get the lead, or it’s the opposite: you’re not attractive enough. So you’re playing the friend or the killer or the lesbian or the doctor or whatever,” she said. “But the one who gets to play the young, pretty, gets-the-boy-at-the-end role doesn’t have any power. And vice-versa: a character can have power, but not femininity.”

She began directing episodes, including a few for popular TV series like Six Feet Under, Homicide: Life On The Street, Oz, and NYPD Blue.

The actress has encountered some health-related setbacks in her personal life. She received cancer diagnoses twice throughout her life, in 2003 and 2012. She received ovarian cancer diagnoses in 2003 and breast cancer diagnoses in 2012.

Kathy Bates, an actress, started talking openly about her lymphedema diagnosis after undergoing breast cancer surgery. She serves as the Lymphatic Education & Research Network’s spokesperson.

She spoke openly about her recent 80-pound weight loss. Compression sleeves are required for the actress to prevent arm swelling. When flying or performing a demanding task, she makes sure to wear them because doing so causes her condition to worsen.

The actress said she has to constantly remind herself to take it easy to manage the condition., “If I can stop rushing, relax my shoulders, straighten my spine, breathe deeply, and focus on each little moment of completing a task, I have more confidence in my ability to live with LE. The pandemic forced me to slow down.”

She counsels those who have the condition to continue living their lives despite it.. The actress said, “Going out in public wearing a compression garment, especially when people aren’t educated about LE, can sometimes be more painful than the disease itself. However, hiding at home and living a sedentary life will only make things worse for your body and brain.”

She emphasized the need to avoid letting your illness define you, something she does for herself as well.

She is making certain that she advocates for more lymphedema research and gets funding given to those tasked with spreading awareness of the condition.

Despite being diagnosed, Kathy Bates still makes sure to play roles she enjoys and complete the projects she wants to!

The actress has learned to not just live with her condition but also how to make sure she can thrive with it.

Share this article to inspire others in their fight against lymphedema.