Rachel Maddow says she had surgery for skin cancer after partner saw change in mole

Rachel Maddow is sharing an important message with her viewers after she was diagnosed with skin cancer.

The MSNBC host recalled during a recent episode of “The Rachel Maddow Show” that she was at a minor league baseball game with her partner, Susan Mikula, who noticed at the time that a mole on Maddow’s neck had “changed.”

“I had no idea what she was talking about,” Maddow recalled.

She said she tried to brush it off, joking that Mikula just hadn’t noticed the mole before because it was on Maddow’s left side and Maddow is the one who drives. Maddow also speculated that the change in appearance could’ve been due to a “mosquito bite or sunburn or something.”

But Mikula was steadfast, insisting, “We’ve been together 22 years. That mole has changed,” Maddow said. Mikula then suggested Maddow ask her hairstylist, Diane, whom she’s seen for two decades.

“(Diane) said immediately, ‘Yes, I was going to say something about it myself. That mole has changed.'”

Maddow said she decided to have a checkup with a dermatologist, who did a biopsy and discovered it was skin cancer. She had surgery at a hospital in New York City, and “they got all of it,” she said. Maddow was off from work for a few days and now has to have regular checkups.

“Susan was right, like she always is. I am going to be absolutely fine,” she added.

Maddow went on to stress to viewers the importance of getting moles checked. While skin cancer is the most common cancer in the world, 99 percent of cases are treatable if they’re caught early, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.

“Schedule a check now with your doctor,” she said. “Then when your doctor tells you you’re fine, but you should do this every year, put it in the calendar in your phone for a year from now, and then actually come back and do that follow-up appointment.

“It’s only by the grace of Susan that I found mine in enough time that it was totally treatable, because I have been blowing off my appointments forever to get stuff like that checked because I’ve assumed it will always be fine.”