Rachel Maddow is sending an important health message after recently being diagnosed with skin cancer.
On the Oct. 6 episode of The Rachel Maddow Show, the MSNBC anchor said that, a few months ago, her partner Susan Mikula noticed a mole on her neck had "changed." After confirming with a friend that the mole had indeed changed, Maddow went to see a dermatologist.
"Did a biopsy, turns out it was skin cancer," the political commentator told viewers. "Skin cancer accounts for the vast majority of cancers diagnosed in the United States. And the vast majority of skin cancers are removable, treatable. But here's the thing I'm going to tell you...even the deadliest kinds of skin cancers now, the ones that like to spread to other parts of your body, the ones that really like to try to kill you...those too are way more treatable than they used to be. On one condition: that you get them early."
"All this to say, I would like to introduce you to my Band-Aid," Maddow continued, noting she had a few days off after having surgery on Friday, Oct. 1. "They got it, they got all of it. I'm good. I have clear margins and the whole thing."
Moving forward, to prevent this from happening again, Maddow explained that she'll get routine skin checkups. She also credited her longtime love Mikula—who battled her own health scare in 2020 after contacting coronavirus—for the discovery. "Susan was right! She always is!" Maddow said. "I am going to be absolutely fine. I'm going to be totally fine."
"It's only by the grace of Susan that I found mine in enough time that it was totally treatable," Maddow shared, "because I have been blowing off my appointments forever to get stuff like that checked, because I've assumed it will always be fine. You do need to get this stuff checked at the doctor. Do not blow it off."
Watch her message above.
(E! and MSNBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)