Richard Simmons shared an emotional post on Tuesday about the moment he was diagnosed with skin cancer, a concerning update that followed an apology for scaring fans with a post saying he was dying.
The fitness personality said he noticed a blemish under his eye in the mirror one day and decided to speak with a dermatologist after it would not clear up. The doctor scraped the area and examined the cells under a microscope, according to Simmons.
“He comes back about 20 minutes later and says the C word. You have cancer,” Simmons wrote. “I asked him what kind of cancer and he said. Basel Cell Carcinoma. I told him to stop calling me dirty names. He laughed.”
Basal cell carcinoma is a form of skin cancer that appears most often on areas of the skin that are exposed to the sun, according to the Mayo Clinic. It’s most often treated by removing all of the cancerous cells and rarely spreads, or metastasizes.
Simmons said he went to a “cancer doctor,” Dr. Ralph A. Massey, who informed him he would need a procedure to that would burn his skin to remove the cancer cells.
“There was no numbing it just had to be done with a small instrument,” Simmons wrote. “As he started burning my skin a tear dropped down my cheek. You can’t cry during this and he wiped my tear.”
It lasted about 30 minutes, he said, but he had to go back again because not all of the cells were removed. Simmons described the second procedure as more painful, “deeper,” he wrote.
Simmons posted a follow up on Wednesday that the issue was resolved after a third procedure and that he does not even have a scar. He went on to say that his cancer experience is “nothing” compared to stories of his own friends.
“I know some of you reading this have had cancer or have known someone in your life who has had cancer,” he wrote Wednesday. “Promise me you will see your doctor and get a complete check up.”
His posts do not provide details as to when this occurred. NBC News has reached out to representatives for Simmons for additional details.
Simmons’ skin cancer reveal came just a day after he told fans that he “had some news” and that he was dying.
“Oh I can see your faces now. The truth is we all are dying,” he wrote at the time. “Every day we live we are getting closer to our death.”
He later apologized to fans for upsetting them with the post.
“I am not dying,” he clarified. “It was a message about saying how we should embrace every day that we have. Sorry for this confusion.”
