Richard Simmons, 75, Reveals Skin Cancer Diagnosis and Details Painful Removal Process

Richard Simmons has been diagnosed with skin cancer.

The fitness fanatic announced the news via a Facebook post on Tuesday, March 19, explaining he first saw a doctor after noticing "a 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," he recalled of the steps he took. "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," the star, 75, revealed of what went down in the doctor's office. "I asked him what kind of cancer and he said Basel [sic] Cell Carcinoma. I told him to stop calling me dirty names. He laughed."

Simmons found a doctor that specialized in skin cancer and booked an appointment immediately,

"I waited in his waiting room and said hello to all of these people who had skin cancer as well," he spilled. "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 media personality then detailed the painful process of having the cancerous spot removed.

"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," he explained. "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."

The star had to wait for an hour and a half before returning to the office to see if it was all successfully removed, but unfortunately, it wasn't.

"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," he confessed.

Simmons wrapped up his post by noting he had to once again wait 90 minutes, concluding, "To be continued."

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The health update came just one day after Simmons had to clarify that his post about "dying" wasn't literal.

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