"Even though your family is there for you and cares for you, it becomes a solitary journey," says Bates, who was married to actor Tony Campisi from 1991 to '97. 贝茨说：“即使你的家人一直陪伴着你，照顾着你，这也变成了一段孤独的旅程。”贝茨1991年嫁给了演员托尼·坎皮西，1997年婚姻结束。

"I ended up going to chemo by myself." And she also continued to work, starring in Feud and Bad Santa 2, and this time opened up about the mastectomy in 2012 on Twitter. “最后我自己去做化疗。”她还继续工作，主演了《世仇》和《圣诞坏公公2》，这次她在推特上公开了2012年的乳房切除手术。

Now, though she's cancer-free, Bates says she is dealing with her biggest challenge yet: lymphedema, a disease that's commonly caused by the removal of lymph nodes during cancer treatment. 贝茨说，虽然她不会得癌症了，但她正在应对迄今为止最大的挑战：淋巴水肿，这种病通常是在癌症治疗过程中摘除淋巴结引起的。

It causes extreme pain, water retention and swelling and has no cure. 它会引起极度的疼痛、水潴留和肿胀，而且无法治愈。

"It's a souvenir you definitely don't want," says Bates about lymphedema adding after the diagnosis, “这是一个你绝对不想要的纪念品，”贝茨谈到诊断后的淋巴水肿时说，

"I really felt that life was over for me. I probably wouldn't work again, and I was angry for a long time." “我真的觉得我的生命结束了。我可能不会再工作了，我生气了很长一段时间。”

Then Bates decided to turn her frustration into good by helping raise awareness about lymphedema, which can develop in a percentage of cancer patients who have their lymph nodes removed. 然后贝茨决定通过帮助提高人们对淋巴水肿的认识来把她的沮丧转化为善行，一部分癌症患者的淋巴结被切除后会出现淋巴水肿。

"It's quite serious," she says, adding that many people remain undiagnosed and can't figure out why they are swollen and in pain. “情况相当严重，”她说，并补充说，许多人仍未确诊，也不知道自己为何肿胀和疼痛。

"People can go for years without it getting diagnosed properly. “有人可能痛苦数年，得不到正确的诊断。

There's probably millions of men out there who, because of prostate surgery, have it in their legs and groins and won't talk about it. 可能有数以百万计的男人，因为前列腺手术，腿和腹股沟都有这种病，但他们不会谈论到这件事。

I'm one of the lucky ones in that I have it in my arm, and that's it." 我是幸运的人之一，因为它出现在我的手臂上，就是这样。”

She's working on getting a bill passed in New York that will mandate that hospitals have literature to inform patients about lymphedema, and she's learned to manage her pain by wearing compression sleeves on her arms and losing 60 lbs. through exercise and a healthy diet. 她正在努力争取在纽约通过一项法案，要求医院为患者提供关于淋巴水肿的文献资料，她学会了通过在手臂上穿紧身衣来控制疼痛并通过锻炼和健康的饮食减掉60磅。

Today her career is booming, including roles in the new season of American Horror Story and the upcoming film On the Basis of Sex. 如今，她的演艺事业蒸蒸日上，将出演新一季的《美国恐怖故事》和即将上映的《以性为本》。

"Acting is my life force," she says, adding that she considered getting breast reconstruction but doesn't want to take time out of her busy schedule for surgery because "I'm having too much fun." “演戏是支持我生命的力量，”她说，并补充说她曾考虑过乳房再造，但不想从繁忙的日程中抽出时间做手术，因为“我太开心了。”

Her advice to women: Get regular checkups and stay healthy. 她对女性的建议是：定期体检，保持健康。

"Quit taking the damn selfies and worrying about what you look like," she says. 她说:“别再自拍照了，别再担心自己长什么样了。”

"Instead, keep everything working and in good order." “相反，要让每件事都运转正常，井井有条。”