Kathy Bates on Facing Her Tough Health Challenge

Kathy Bates has taken on a series of challenging roles in her long acting career. There was the chilling Annie Wilkes in Misery, who tormented a horror-novel writer in her snowed-in cabin. There was the brash and unbalanced Libby Holden in Primary Colors. There was the timid housewife Evelyn Couch in Fried Green Tomatoes.

Bates has faced enormous health challenges as well — and is battling one now. After surviving ovarian and breast cancer, she's currently struggling with a painful condition that resulted from her double mastectomy: lymphedema.

Lymphedema, a swelling in an arm or leg, generally happens after surgeons have removed lymph nodes during cancer treatment. Without the lymph nodes, lymph fluid does not drain properly. It can lead to serious infections. There is no cure.

CBS Sunday Morning recently interviewed Bates about the condition, which, along with other lymphatic diseases, affects up to 10 million people.

The video of that interview is below:

Emily Gurnon is the former Senior Content Editor covering health and caregiving for Next Avenue. Her stories include a series of articles on guardianship abuse that was funded by the Journalists in Aging Fellows Program. She previously spent 20 years as an award-winning newspaper reporter in the San Francisco Bay Area and St. Paul. Reach her through her website. Read More