Christie Brinkley is shedding light on her unexpected skin cancer diagnosis earlier this year, and the coincidental –– but life-saving –– way it came to be.
The beloved supermodel, who also celebrated her milestone 70th birthday earlier this year, first revealed in a March 13 Instagram post that she had been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer, and had a spot on her temple removed.
"The good news for me is we caught the basal cell carcinoma early," she wrote at the time, and reminded her followers: "The good news for you is that all of this can be avoided by being diligent with your sun protection! I got serious a bit late."
Two months later, Christie stopped by the Today Show Tuesday morning, and did her first in-person interview to talk about her skin cancer journey.
Speaking with longtime co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, Christie explained that when her skin cancer was discovered, she wasn't due for a check-up with her dermatologist anytime soon, however she'd tagged along for one of her daughters' –– she's a doting mom to Alexa Ray, 37, and Sailor, 25 –– appointments.
"I was in the room, and he had this little magnifying glass out, and he's looking at a couple of things that she was worried about," she first explained, before recalling thinking to herself: "There is that little spot right on the side of my head right here," however she hesitated to bring it up, because it wasn't her appointment.
© InstagramChristie continued: "Then right at the very end, as he was putting away his little thing, I said, 'Before you put that away, do you think you could just look at this?'"
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She then revealed that the doctor immediately flagged the spot on her temple as something of some concern, and further recounted: "He looked and he goes, 'We've got to do a biopsy immediately. This is something.' Then the biopsy came back [as] cancer."
© Instagram"They took care of it, and luckily, my hair grows in that direction, but the scar is barely noticeable," Christie added, flashing her smooth, virtually scar-free temple to the camera.
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In her post first sharing the news, Christie also wrote: "Now for this ole mermaid/gardener, I'll be slathering on my SPF 30, reapplying as needed, wearing long sleeves and a wide brim hat. And doing regular total body check ups... that is a MUST!"
© InstagramShe also encouraged fans: "So make your own good luck by making that check up appointment today. And slather up my friends!" and thanked her doctors, sharing: "Thank you to Dr. Abraham, Dr. Anolik, Dr. Geronemus, Dr. Lloyd Hoffman at the Laser & Skin Surgery Center of NewYork."
Her daughters Sailor and Alexa –– Christie is also a mom to son Jack Paris, 28 –– took to the comments section under the post to cheer her on, with her youngest leaving behind a string of heart emojis, as her firstborn endearingly wrote: "Love you Mom… Let's get Arnica Cream & Supplements, it'll help your skin heal faster."
