BETHESDA, Md. — First lady Jill Biden had a cancerous lesion above her right eye removed on Wednesday, while surgeons removed another lesion on her chest, the White House announced Wednesday.
Doctors were also examining a third lesion, located on Biden’s left eyelid, The Associated Press reported.
Surgeons performed the procedure on Biden, 71, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Update from Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Physician to the President, following the First Lady’s Mohs surgery today: pic.twitter.com/2dxyDCCeeQ
— Vanessa Valdivia (@vvaldivia46) January 11, 2023
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, said the lesion over Biden’s left eye and one newly discovered on her chest were both confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma, according to the AP. The lesion on her right eye was “fully excised, with margins, and was sent for standard microscopic examination,” according to a memorandum from O’Connor.
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.
Biden is the oldest sitting first lady in modern U.S. history, CNN reported.
O’Connor said Biden was “experiencing some facial swelling and bruising but is in good spirits and is feeling well.”
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