Rachel Maddow says she had surgery to remove skin cancer

Rachel Maddow is back to work after taking some time to recuperate. In the Wednesday night episode of The Rachel Maddow Show, the host said she was away a few days after undergoing skin cancer surgery at NYU Langone Hospital.

Maddow explained that while she and her 22-year-old partner, Susan Mikula, were at a baseball game, Mikula noticed that a mole on Maddow’s neck looked a little different.

When it comes to detecting skin cancer early, dermatologists suggest that people take stock of any moles they have and get checked out if there are any noticeable changes. The ABCDE method, which stands for ‘asymmetry’, ‘border’, ‘color’, ‘diameter’ and ‘evolution’, allows users to track and rank any significant change.

Maddow approached his barber about the same mole, and the barber noticed a significant change as well. Maddow went to see her dermatologist soon after, and received a biopsy and diagnosis.

“Long story short, Susan was right, Dianne was right,” Maddow said. “I went to the dermatologist, she said, ‘Hey, you know what? This mole has changed. I was like, ‘Yeah, I heard that.’ I took a biopsy, it turned out to be skin cancer.

Last week, Maddow had surgery to remove the mole, hence his absence. The operation is a success. “They got it, they got it all,” Maddow said.

Later on the show, she continued to reassure her viewers, “I’m going to be fine.”

Although she said she could have been out of work for a few more days, she wanted to take the opportunity to stress the importance of regular checkups. “Even skin cancers which are the deadliest skin cancers in this country, these too are much more treatable than before on one condition: that you catch them early,” Maddow explained. “Even the most disturbing forms of skin cancer. If you identify it early enough, it is now quite treatable.