Jill Biden to undergo surgery to remove small lesion discovered above her eye during cancer screening

Procedure recommended in ‘abundance of caution’

Jill Biden will undergo a procedure to have a small lesion found above her right eye removed, the White House said.

The lesion was discovered during a routine skin cancer screening by Kevin O’Connor, the physician to the president.

“In an abundance of caution, doctors have recommended it be removed,” a letter by Mr O’Connor’s office confirmed.

The procedure known as “Mohs surgery” is scheduled to take place on Wednesday at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

“We will offer an update after the procedure is completed and we have more information,” Mr O’Connor wrote.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the Mohs micrographic surgery is done by injecting local anesthesia and cutting away thin layers of the potentially cancerous lesion.

This would be the second surgery on the first lady after she got a punctured wound cleaned out in June last year.

It is not known if president Joe Biden will accompany her to the hospital. But he has been known to be by her side each time she visits for a medical procedure.

In April 2021, the White House said Ms Biden underwent a common medical procedure but did not provide further details.

Mr Biden had accompanied her to an outpatient centre and they both returned to the White House after about two hours.

In July, he famously waited for the first lady at Walter Reed, flying on Marine One.

“I’m late for a very important date,” he told reporters. At that time, Ms Biden was getting surgery to have a sharp object removed from her left foot that got lodged while walking on the beach in Oahu.

“The First Lady underwent a successful procedure on her left foot to flush out debris from a puncture wound. After inspection of the wound by medical staff, it is unclear what object caused the puncture. The wound is now clean, free of infection and it is anticipated that it will heal nicely,” her spokesman Michael LaRosa had said at the time.