As a proud supporter of the biennial Stand Up To Cancer fundraiser, Kathy Bates has long been open about her battle with cancer. However, she wasn't always that way. In fact, the actress initially kept her battle with stage 1 ovarian cancer private following her diagnosis in 2003, which resulted in surgery and nine months of chemotherapy. "I didn't tell anybody," the American Horror Story star told People in 2018. "I continued to work right after the operation, doing Little Black Book with Brittany Murphy. My agent at the time was very old-school and didn't want me to be the poster child for ovarian cancer. I didn't want anyone to know, but it really took a lot out of me."
Bates was later diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and underwent a double mastectomy. "My aunt had died from it, my mother had it, my niece had it," a cancer-free actress explained to the media outlet. However, Bates went on to reveal that having her lymph nodes removed during her cancer scare treatments led to her battle with lymphedema, which she called "a souvenir you definitely don't want." She's since used her celeb platform to raise awareness about the disease through the Lymphatic Education & Research Network.
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