Jill Biden will have `small lesion' removed
First lady Jill Biden plans to undergo surgery next week to have a “small lesion” over her right eye removed and examined after it was discovered during a skin cancer screening, the White House physician said.
It is not clear if the lesion is a danger to Biden's health, but the outpatient procedure that she will undergo is often used to treat skin cancer or remove tissue that could be cancerous. Dr. Kevin C. O'Connor, who was President Joe Biden's longtime personal physician before becoming the White House physician, said in a statement that doctors recommended that the lesion be removed “in an abundance of caution” so it could be “definitively” examined.
O'Connor added that doctors would provide an update after the procedure, known as Mohs surgery, which will be performed next Wednesday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
The Biden White House has often disclosed routine examinations, minor surgeries and other health updates for the president and the first lady as Joe Biden, the oldest president in American history, has sought to assure the public of his fitness to serve.
Jill Biden, now 71, underwent surgery in 2021 to remove debris from a puncture wound in her left foot after stepping on an object while walking on the beach in Hawaii. The White House announced that day that the surgery had taken place.
Laura Bush, the wife of President George W. Bush, waited more than a month to disclose that she had a malignant tumor on her right leg removed around the time of the election in November 2006. The Bush White House was criticized at the time for not immediately disclosing the diagnosis or the surgery to remove the cancer.