Manny Hernandez / Getty ImagesMarc Anthony's ex-wife Dayanara Torres revealed on Instagram that she has cancer.
The Miss Universe 1993 winner recorded a tearful video in Spanish explaining the diagnosis. Torres posted it on Monday, which also happened to be World Cancer Day.
In the clip, she sits wearing a long-sleeve pink shirt with her brown hair down in front of some family photos and a statuette of Jesus. Torres captioned the video in English and wrote about her "sad news."
"As mothers we are always taking care of everyone around us... our kids, family, friends & often we forget to take care of ourselves," she began. "Today I have some sad news... I have been diagnosed with skin cancer 'melanoma' from a big spot/mole I never paid attention to, even though it was new, it had been growing for years & had an uneven surface."
She later wrote that her fiancé, Marvel Studios co-president Louis D'Esposito, "had been begging me to have it checked & finally made an appointment himself." Torres continued, "after a biopsy & a second surgery last Tuesday the results unfortunately are positive. Now we are waiting to see which treatment I will be receiving but they have already removed a big area from the back of my knee & also they have removed 2 lymph nodes at the top of my leg where it had already spread."
Torres hopes "it has not spread to any other areas or organs."
The Puerto Rico native shared in the description that her two sons who she had with Anthony, Christian Anthony Muñiz and Ryan Anthony Muñiz, are "scared," but they "know they have a warrior of a mommy!"
"But if I can help anyone along the way based on my experience, it would be to tell you... PLEASE, never forget to take care of yourself," she wrote towards the end of her post. "If you see something or feel something different in your body have it checked... I had no idea skin cancer could spread anywhere else in your body."
According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, melanoma is "the most dangerous form of skin cancer," but can usually be curable if caught early. When it spreads to other body parts, however, the cancer becomes "harder to treat."
Torres and Anthony were married from 2000-2004.
Our thoughts go out to Torres and her family at this time.