Richard Simmons is opening up about his cancer diagnosis. The 75-year-old fitness trailblazer recently got candid about the moment he learned he had skin cancer in an emotional Facebook post. He first said he noticed “this strange-looking bump under my right eye,” which didn’t disappear, prompting him to call his dermatologist.
The fitness guru wrote, “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 said he was told he had basal cell carcinoma and advised to see a “cancer doctor” as soon as possible. Simmons joked, “I told him to stop calling me dirty names.”
After his diagnosis, Simmons said he went to see Dr. Ralph A. Massey, and he recalled meeting other skin cancer patients in the waiting room. He wrote, “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. The nurse said, ‘Dr. would like to see you now, Richard.’ I slowly walked into 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.”
He went on to share how the doctor explained the treatment process. The former fitness coach said he was told the doctor would “burn my skin to remove the cancer cells.” Simmons continued, “There was no numbing; it just had to be done with a small instrument. As he started burning my skin, a tear dropped down my cheek. The burning really hurt my skin. It lasted about 30 minutes.” According to Simmons, the doctor told him to come back in “an hour and a half” to find out if the procedure removed all of the cancer.
He explained, “I went back to some sad news. 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 concluded the post with, “to be continued.” Simmons’ skin cancer reveal comes days after he shared a message on Facebook about dying, sparking concerns over his health. The TV personality clarified he was not dying as he apologized for the “confusion” over his last post.
He wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, “Sorry many of you have gotten upset about my message today. Even the press has gotten in touch with me. I am not dying. It was a message about how we should embrace every day that we have. Sorry for this confusion.”