WASHINGTON — First lady Jill Biden will undergo a procedure to remove a lesion above her right eye that was found during a routine skin cancer screening, her press secretary said Wednesday.
Vanessa Valdavia tweeted that Biden, 71, will have the procedure done on Jan. 11 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
“In an abundance of caution, doctors have recommended that it be removed,” Kevin O’Connor, physician to the president, wrote in a memorandum that Valdivia shared in her tweet.
During a routine skin cancer screening, a small lesion was found above the First Lady’s right eye. Memo here from Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Physician to the President, with more information on the First Lady’s upcoming outpatient procedure to have it removed and examined. pic.twitter.com/DIQrnjtZFc
— Vanessa Valdivia (@vvaldivia46) January 4, 2023
Biden’s procedure, called Mohs surgery, is a common outpatient surgery used to remove and examine skin tissue, The Washington Post reported.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the procedure involves injecting local anesthesia and cutting away thin layers of the potentially cancerous lesion.
Each layer “is looked at closely for signs of cancer,” the Mayo Clinic wrote on its website.
First lady Jill Biden will undergo a procedure next week to remove a lesion that was found during a routine skin cancer screening, her press secretary Vanessa Valdivia told CNN on Wednesday. https://t.co/9yWVU9EtsV
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 5, 2023
The process continues until there are no signs of cancer.
Biden is the oldest sitting first lady in modern U.S. history, CNN reported.
She and President Joe Biden returned to the White House on Monday after spending the New Year’s holiday on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to The Associated Press.
©2022 Cox Media Group
