by First lady Jill Biden had two cancerous lesions removed Wednesday, the White House physician said in a memo.
The first lady, 71, had gone to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to have a small lesion over her right eye surgically removed. He was discovered in a skin cancer screening.
“The procedure confirmed that the small lesion was a basal cell carcinoma,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor said in a statement.
A second lesion, also confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma, was found on the left side of Biden’s chest during his preoperative consultation, according to his memo. Both were removed in an outpatient procedure known as Mohs surgery.
While preparing her for the procedure, hospital staff members also discovered another lesion on her left eyelid, which was removed and is being examined, O’Connor said.
“Again, all the cancerous tissue was successfully removed,” he added.
O’Connor said that “as anticipated,” Biden “is experiencing some facial swelling and bruising” after the outpatient procedure “but is in good spirits and feeling good,” adding: “She will return to the White House later. today”.
The first lady’s press secretary, Vanessa Valdivia, later said Biden was “fine” after returning to the White House on Wednesday night.
“He sends his love and gratitude to all the doctors and nurses at Walter Reed for their expertise, care and kindness, and he thanks everyone who has sent him well wishes and prayers,” Valdivia said.
basal cell carcinoma, the most common form skin cancer, is easily treatable if detected early. It hits the basal cells in the top layer of the skin.
O’Connor pointed that basal cell Carcinoma lesions “do not tend to ‘spread’ or metastasize, as some more serious skin cancers, such as melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma, are known to do. However, they do have the potential to increase in size, which resulting in a more significant problem as well as greater challenges for surgical removal.”
zoe richards contributed.
