Richard Simmons maintains a quiet life away from the public eye, having retreated from the spotlight for over a decade, making his last public appearance in February 2014.
Since then, the fitness guru, 75, has maintained a stream of updates through his Facebook page, recently creating major buzz with a statement mistakenly leading fans to believe he was "dying."
Hours after clarifying that wasn't the case, he shared a new Facebook post
© Getty Images"Mirror mirror on the wall, what's that blemish which is so small?" he mused at the start. "There was this strange looking bump under my right eye. I had a tube of neosporin which I would put on [in] the morning and the evening….it was still there. It was time to call my dermatologist."
After a visit to the dermatologist, and getting a few skin cells scraped to test, he continued: "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 Basal Cell Carcinoma. I told him to stop calling me dirty names. He laughed."
© Getty ImagesRichard joked that he was recommended botox in his forehead and for his smile lines, but simply responded "Not today, doctor" and left.
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"When I got home I called Dr. Ralph A. Massey who was from England. I waited in his waiting room and said hello to all of these people who had skin cancer as well. I was shocked to see all of the skin cancers that they had."
© Getty ImagesPainting a more light-hearted picture of the scene, Richard added: "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."
"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. As he started burning my skin a tear dropped down my cheek."
© Getty ImagesHe continued: "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.'"
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While the Sweatin' to the Oldies creator never fully finished his tale, he did tease that there was more to come, writing "to be continued" and ending with a further picture of his diagnosis as his fans inundated his comments section with love and support.
© Getty Images"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.'"
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