Jill Biden is cancer-free after her Mohs surgery, the White House doctor said in an update Wednesday night, but she is feeling “very good” after the procedure.
The first lady had lesions removed from her face and chest at Walter Reed National Military Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. At least two of them – one above her right eye and one on the left side of her breast – were determined to be cancerous, but all of the cancerous tissue was successfully removed.
That of her left eyelid was sent for a traditional biopsy, but the results came back cancer-free, Dr. Kevin O’Connor in a letter published by the East Wing.
“The results are consistent with a seborrheic keratosis,” wrote O’Connor. “Seborrheic keratosis is a very common, completely harmless, benign growth. No further treatment is required.”
Seborrheic keratosis is a common benign skin growth that people get as they age. Seborrheic keratoses are usually brown, black, or light brown.
‘DR. Biden is recovering very well from her procedures,” O’Connor said. “She had some expected light bruising and swelling but is feeling very well.”
Jill Biden was declared cancer-free after her surgery last week
The first lady was under anesthesia for about five hours for her Mohs operation, which she had at Walter Reed National Military Hospital last Wednesday.
O’Connor said in a memo last week after her surgery that the first lady suffered from swelling and bruising on her face.
She had a lesion removed above her right eye, which was confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma. Doctors also found a lesion on her chest that appeared to be basal cell carcinoma, and doctors extracted it. They later confirmed that it was this type of skin cancer.
“All of the cancerous tissue was successfully removed,” O’Connor said.
In addition, during the surgery, doctors also removed a lesion from her left eyelid and sent her in for additional tests. This is the one that has been found to be benign.
President Joe Biden said last week his wife of 45 is fine but in pain.
“She’ll be sore for a while from the work they did on her eyes and – there was one of those. But she has a 0 to 1% chance of cancer coming back, so thank God she’s doing really well,” he said.
Jill Biden thanked the hospital staff for their care.
Her spokeswoman, Vanessa Valdivia, said in a statement last week that the first lady “sends her love and gratitude to all of the doctors and nurses at Walter Reed for their expertise, caring and kindness, and appreciates all those who have sent her well wishes and prayers.” ‘
First Lady Jill Biden leaves the White House ahead of outpatient surgery to remove a small lesion above her right eye known as Mohs surgery
update from dr Kevin O’Connor after Jill Biden’s surgery last Wednesday
Mohs surgery is an outpatient procedure in which thin layers of skin are removed and tested for cancer.
President Biden spent eight hours in the hospital to be with his wife during her procedure.
In his letter last Wednesday, O’Connor noted that “basal cell carcinoma lesions do not tend to spread or ‘metastasize’ as is known in some more serious skin cancers such as melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma.”
“However, they have the potential to increase in size, leading to a more significant problem as well as increased challenges for surgical removal,” he wrote.
The First Lady departs Marine One at the National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland
Jill Biden, 71, is the oldest First Lady in modern American history.
President Biden has accompanied her to two other medical procedures.
Before the procedure on Wednesday, Dr. Biden performing a “standard medical procedure” at an outpatient center near the George Washington University campus in April 2021, without the White House providing further details.
And in July 2021, she traveled to Walter Reed to have debris removed from her foot after stepping on an unnamed object during a pit stop made in state while returning from the Tokyo Olympics as she went for a walk on a beach in Hawaii.
It’s not the Biden family’s first cancer.
Beau Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor called glioblastoma in 2013. He died in 2015.