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Kathy Bates is sharing new details about the steps she took following her breast cancer diagnosis in 2012.
“I decided not to have reconstruction because at the age, I thought, ‘You know, I really don’t wanna go through that,’” Bates, 76, said on the Tuesday, November 12, episode of the “MeSsy with Christina Applegate & Jamie-Lynn Sigler” podcast. “I just didn’t wanna go through it. I wasn’t in a relationship. I was older, and I didn’t think I would be in a relationship, and it’s always kind of like, ‘Why do I have to?’”
The actress said she enjoyed “not having breasts” after undergoing a double mastectomy following her diagnosis and as part of her cancer treatment.
“This is really weird, maybe, but I had really heavy breasts,” she revealed to hosts Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler. “They were like 10 pounds when [the doctors] removed them. Really big breasts and I kind of enjoy not having breasts. It’s strange.”
Applegate — who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and who also had a double mastectomy — told Bates that she did undergo reconstructive surgery following her own procedure, but explained that “I don’t have nipples.”
“I don’t really care about that part,” she added. “I don’t need them. I’m totally fine. Like, you could go out with a tank top without a bra and there’s no, like, pokey guys coming out.”
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While filming the TV drama Matlock, in which she plays Madeline Matlock, Bates said the fashion department would “devise this really cool” kind of “camisole” made of material similar to Spanx.
“They put little false-y cups in it, and they’re so comfortable,” she shared. “They give me a nice shape. I feel so good when I go out like that. For a while, I just didn’t go out with any prophylactics or at all, or I went out with them and they’re H๏τ and heavy and they made me unhappy.”
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During the interview, Bates — who also had ovarian cancer in 2003 — applauded both Applegate, 52, and Sigler, 43, for being open and honest about their health journeys. (Both cohosts have publicly discussed their multiple sclerosis diagnosis.)
Bates explained that she wanted their show to be her first podcast appearance because she believes in their mission to speak openly about the messiness of life.
“We’re in service to something larger than ourselves,” Bates explained. “That can come from our stars, our personalities, our courage. I think we’ve been called to service. We’ve been called to service to present our message in a very powerful way.”