Jill Biden is opening up about her cancer diagnosis, urging people not to put off their annual screenings.
“Lo and behold, I got cancer in a routine checkup,” Biden said Friday during an appearance on “Live with Kelly and Ryan.”
“I’m fine,” Biden assured co-hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. “But one of the things I wanted to remind people — I think during the pandemic we put off our screenings for so long. Now’s the time to get screened.”
Biden had two cancerous lesions removed in January. During the Mohs surgery, doctors confirmed that a skin lesion above Biden’s right eye was basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer.
President Biden relaunched the Cancer Moonshot last year with the aim of cutting the cancer death rate in half over the next 25 years and a goal of improving the lives of caregivers and cancer survivors. The president also had a basal cell carcinoma removed earlier this year.
“I spent so many summers at the Jersey Shore,” the first lady recalled during her “Live” appearance, timed to coincide with Seacrest’s final show as co-host. Ripa’s husband, actor Mark Consuelos, is poised to replace Seacrest in the co-hosting chair beginning next week.
“There I was on the beach. I was waitressing to get money for college, and I was in the sun every day,” Biden, 71, said.
“And I’m still in the sun — I love to exercise,” she continued, before exclaiming, “Wear sunscreen!”