Richard Simmons is sharing his skin cancer diagnosis in a story posted to Facebook on Tuesday.
The fitness personality — who recently concerned fans with a Facebook post about dying, which he later clarified was about the importance of appreciating life — explained how he noticed a blemish on his face, which led to him seeking the advice of a medical expert.
“Mirror mirror on the wall what’s that blemish which is so small? There was this strange looking bump under my right eye. I had a tube of neosporin which I would put on I the morning and the evening….it was still there. It was time to call my dermatologist,” Simmons shared. “I sat in his chair and he looked at it through a magnifying mirror. He told me he would have to scrape it and put it under the microscope. Now I am getting a little bit nervous.”
“He comes back about 20 minutes later and says the C word. You have cancer,” Simmons continued. “I asked him what kind of cancer and he said. Basel Cell Carcinoma. I told him to stop calling me dirty names. He laughed.”
Simmons explained that he quickly got an appointment with Dr. Ralph A. Massey, a dermatologic and skin cancer surgeon, who broke down the steps needed to treat his skin cancer.
“He explained that he has to burn my skin to remove the cancer cells. There was no numbing it just had to be done with a small instrument,” Simmons shared. “As he started burning my skin a tear dropped down my cheek. You can’t cry during this and he wiped my tear. The burning really hurt my skin. It lasted about 30 minutes.”
Simmons was told to “Come back in an hour and a half” to see if it had successfully been removed. After driving around the city and eventually returning, Simmons said he “went back to some sad news” — it hadn’t been entirely removed.
“He burned my face again. This time was worse than before…It was deeper. I did not cry this time but I did grit my teeth,” Simmons wrote, adding that he was then told to wait another 90 minutes and return once more.
Simmons concluded his post on a cliffhanger of sorts, telling fans, “….to be continued…”
The skin cancer story comes just one day after Simmons caused concern among his fans when he wrote, “I have some news to tell you. Please don’t be sad. I am ….dying,” Simmons wrote. “Oh I can see your faces now. The truth is we all are dying. Every day we live we are getting closer to our death.”
The fitness instructor went on to share recommendations for a healthy lifestyle, including breakfast and dinner suggestions and workout tips — even suggesting his own videos on YouTube. He also suggested to his more than 400,000 Facebook followers that they reach out to their loved ones and listen to Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying.”
Shortly after, Simmons’ rep, Tom Estey, released a statement to ET in which he said that the fitness guru’s post was meant to be inspirational and not taken literally.
“Richard solely wants to be inspirational and that was his intent in today’s post. He is 100% healthy and happy,” Estey stated.
In an updated statement posted to his social media channels following concern from fans, he apologized for the confusion and shared that his message was simply meant to remind everyone to live every day as if it could be the last.
“Sorry many of you have gotten upset about my message today. Even the press has gotten in touch with me I am not dying,” Simmons shared. “It was a message about saying how we should embrace every day that we have.”
Concerns over Simmons’ health have been prevalent for years as the once incredibly public figure has rarely been seen since 2014. The startling disappearance even sparked a 2022 special, TMZ Investigates: What Really Happened to Richard Simmons. The documentary focused on Simmons disappearing from the public eye, and it also revealed that problems with his knees is the reason why he’s stayed out of the spotlight all these years.
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