Rachel Maddow undergoes surgery for skin cancer: 'You should get checked'

[Jilly_in_VA]

Rachel Maddow is sending an important message to her viewers about taking care of their skin health.

The MSNBC primetime host took time on her Wednesday show to "address a quick personal matter" revealing she had been gone for a few days because she had surgery to remove skin cancer on her neck. Maddow said she returned to the show still bandaged because she knew she needed to "pay this back."

"I want to use this moment to tell you something, which is: you should get checked," the 48-year-old political commentator said. "If you've got moles like I do, just get on a schedule with your doctor."

Maddow said her partner , photographer Susan Mikula, noticed the cancerous mole while they were attending a minor league baseball game.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2021/10/07/rachel-maddow-skin-cancer-mole-checked-show/6032440001/

[maxsolomon]

1. stay with us, RM

I had a colleague die of skin cancer in his early 50s, leaving behind 2 kids.

[Jilly_in_VA]

2. I lost a friend

who was only in her late 40s. She left three daughters. But there are several types of skin cancers. My friend had malignant melanoma. Hopefully Rachel's is basal cell carcinoma which is usually localized and treatable. My dad had 2-3 of those removed and lived to be 91, dying of congestive heart failure instead.

[Disaffected]

6. I've had two basal cell and one squamous cell cancers

removed by simple skin scraping and laser ablation (quick and painless). Both are far better to get than melanoma but it is never-the-less important to keep watching for them as they tend to reappear in various locations such as the face and hands as a result of sun caused skin damage. They tend to start as pre-cancerous actinic keratosis (small rough, sometimes itchy patches) and these can be easily removed by application of liquid nitrogen and/or laser heating.

I go to my dermatologist every six months and almost always have an actinic keratosis or two blasted and perhaps biopsied if the dermatologist thinks it may be cancerous. This will have to be done for the remained of my life but it is well worth it.

I too certainly hope RM's lesion is basal or squamous as melanoma can be life threatening, even if caught fairly early. If one has dark, irregular patches or moles on the skin, get to a dermo ASAP! And, they can occur even on areas that never receive much sun exposure.

[IBEWVET]

8. Same as my experience

Growing up in Fl and did not think about sun screen, now paying the price. Go every six months and something gets removed.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Having skin cancer and surgery myself,

the only good thing about it is that it’s the slowest developing cancer (Stage I to IV) out of all the cancers. Dermatologists will save your life.

[KPN]

5. Not true with melanoma. It can be very fast growing

and become life threatening in a matter of weeks. I had it and was diagnosed Stage 2b some years ago. Even at that early stage the stats were 50% survival rate in5 years. Yeah, it might not kill you as fast as say pancreatic cancer, but caught too late (again, sometimes a matter of 6 or 8 weeks) survival rates decline quickly.

[SheltieLover]

4. K&R!

[BigMin28]

7. I'm happy for Rachel

and that her case was caught early. I hope she lives a long and happy life.

What of the 30 million uninsured Americans that cannot just get checked? Perhaps one can afford a visit with a primary care physician, but a dermatologist, if something suspicious is found, maybe impossible without insurance.

[multigraincracker]

9. Had my doctor laughing.

Took off my shirt and told her I have lots of moles, tags and other growths all over my body. I pointed at one on my man boob and said "one of these is not like the others". She laughed out loud and told me she in not a robot. Shaved it off and found out it was one type of mole growing on top of another and I'm good to go.

[Deuxcents]

10. I watched her last night

I’ve been putting off getting checked as I had 2 cancer cells removed from my leg. I called today for a full body exam. Like others who live in Florida, we went barefooted n never heard of sun block when I was younger..I’m 74 and I appreciate the wake up call from RM.