WASHINGTON – Jill Biden’ ‘s commitment to curing cancer did not begin with her Death of son in 2015 from brain tumor. It started decades earlier, well before she burst into the national spotlight, and has now been further empowered by her own treatment of a common form of skin cancer.
The First Lady often says the three worst words anyone will ever hear are, “You have cancer.” She heard a version of that phrase for herself last week.
A lesion that doctors found over her right eye during a routine exam late last year was removed on Wednesday and confirmed as basal cell carcinoma – a highly treatable form of skin cancer. While Biden was preparing to remove the lesion, doctors found and removed another one on the left side of her breast, which was also confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma. A third lesion from her left eyelid was examined.
While it’s too early to know when and how Biden might publicly address her situation, her experience could bring new meaning to what has become part of her life’s work by highlighting research into curing cancer and urges people to have regular check-ups.
Personal experiences can empower a public figure’s advocacy.
“Nothing like ‘I was there, did that’ and being personally involved,” said Myra Gutin, a First Lady Scholar at Rider University.
Biden’s spokeswoman Vanessa Valdivia said: “The First Lady’s battle with cancer has always been personal. She knows cancer affects us all.”
Biden’s advocacy dates back to 1993 when four friends were diagnosed with breast cancer, including her friend Winnie, who succumbed to the disease. She said in a speech last year, “Winnie inspired me to get involved in prevention and education.”
This experience led her to start the Biden Breast Health Initiative, one of the first breast health programs in the United States, to teach 16- to 18-year-old girls how to care for their breasts. Biden was among the staff who went into Delaware’s high schools to give lectures and demonstrations.
Her mother, Bonny Jean Jacobs, and her father, Donald Jacobs, died of cancer in 2008 and 1999, respectively. A few years ago, one of her four sisters needed an autostem cell transplant to treat her cancer.
In May 2015, Beau Biden, the son of President Joe Biden by his late first wife, died of a rare and aggressive brain cancer, leaving behind a wife and two young children. Joe Biden was Vice President at the time and the blow of Beau’s loss led him to it decide against a presidential candidacy in 2016. Jill Biden, who had helped Beau from a young age after marrying his father, was confident he would survive the illness and later described feeling “blinded by the darkness” when he died.
After their son’s death, the Bidens helped push for a national commitment to “ending cancer as we know it.” Then-President Barack Obama — Biden’s boss — put the vice president in charge of what the White House called the Cancer Moonshot.
The Bidens revived the initiative after Joe Biden became president and added a new goal Reduce the cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 yearsand improving the experience of living with and surviving from cancer for patients and their families.
“We’re making sure our entire administration is ready to go to work,” Jill Biden said when announcing the restart at the White House last February. “We will tear down the walls that hold research back. We will bring together our nation’s best – patients, survivors, carers, researchers, physicians and advocates – all of you – so that we can make this happen.”
In the years between Biden’s tenure as vice president and his run for president, the Bidens ran the Biden Cancer Initiative, a charity.
Jill Biden, 71, uses her First Lady platform to highlight research into a cancer cure, along with other issues she has long championed, including education and military families.
Your first trip outside of Washington Following the January 2021 dedication, she was at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center in Richmond to call for an end to health care inequalities, which she said had hurt communities of color.
She has visited cancer centers, including those for children, in New York City, South Carolina, Tennessee, Costa Rica, San Francisco, and Florida, among others. She joined the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies – two of her favorite professional sports teams – for events including during the world seriesto highlight efforts to fight cancer through early detection and honor patients.
Jill Biden hosted one for Breast Cancer Awareness Month last October Event at the White House with the American Cancer Society and singer Mary J. Blige, who became an advocate for cancer screening after losing aunts and other relatives to various types of cancer.
The first lady has also partnered with the Lifetime cable channel to encourage women to get mammograms. A Democrat, she admitted an interview with Newsmax last yearthe conservative cable news channel to discuss federal investment in accelerating the fight against cancer.
She regularly encourages audiences to make cancer screening appointments, which they’ve skipped during the pandemic for fear of visiting doctors’ offices.
When asked Friday how the first lady was doing, the president gave reporters a thumbs-up.
basal cell carcinoma, for which the First Lady underwent a procedure known as Mohs surgery, is the most common type of skin cancer, but also the most curable form. It is considered highly treatable, especially if caught early. It’s a slow-growing cancer that doesn’t usually spread and rarely causes serious complications or becomes life-threatening.
the Skin Cancer Foundation says the delicate skin around the eyes is particularly susceptible to damage from the sun’s UV rays, making basal cell carcinomas on and around the eyelids particularly common.
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