Richard Simmons Reveals Skin Cancer Diagnosis Amid His Disappearance From the Public Eye

Richard Simmons shared a telling post on Facebook about being diagnosed with skin cancer.

“Mirror mirror on the wall what’s that blemish which is so small? There was this strange looking bump under my right eye,” the post shared on Tuesday, March 19, read.

Richard, 75, revealed that he decided to visit his dermatologist after noticing that Neosporin was not helping the bump.

“I sat in his chair and he looked at it through a magnifying mirror,” the celebrity fitness trainer wrote. “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. I asked him what kind of cancer and he said. Basel Cell Carcinoma. I told him to stop calling me dirty names. He laughed.”

Richard urged his fans to “go to a cancer doctor right away.” He then went to visit Dr. Ralph A. Massey, and was introduced to other cancer patients.

“I was shocked to see all of the skin cancers that they had. Some had cancer on top of their heads … their face … and their neck,” he recalled of walking through the waiting room. “The nurse said, ‘Dr. would like to see you now Richard.’ I slowly walked in this pristine room and Dr. Massey came in to greet me … “I have to apologize I just finished eating lox, bagels, and onions.” He smelled like a deli. But I didn’t care I just needed his help.”

During his visit with Dr. Massey, Richard was told the his skin would have to be burned to remove the cancer cells.

“As he started burning my skin a tear dropped down my cheek,” he reflected. “You can’t cry during this and he wiped my tear. The burning really hurt my skin. It lasted about 30 minutes. ‘Come back in an hour and a half and see if I got it all out.’ After driving around the city, I went back to some sad news. I didn’t get it all out. 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. ‘Come back in another hour and a half.'”

Richard left off the post with “to be continued.” The announcement came just one day after the fitness guru caused some confusion with his fans after writing in a Facebook post that he was “dying.”

“Sorry many of you have gotten upset about my message today,” he clarified on Facebook on Tuesday, March 19. “Even the press has gotten in touch with me. I am not dying. It was a message about saying how we should embrace every day that we have. Sorry for this confusion.”