Jill Biden shares concerning habit Joe experienced during presidency before prostate cancer diagnosis
Jill Biden has opened up about former President Joe Biden's health, and a 'concerning habit' that made her think something might be wrong.
Speaking to with SiriusXM’s Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa, the former First Lady revealed her husband had developed an odd nocturnal habit before he was eventually diagnosed with prostate cancer.
She said she raised her concerns with the White House physicians after she noticed Joe, 83, never slept through the night.
Jill was alarmed after noting how Joe was getting up 'seven times a night' to use the bathroom, prior to his diagnosis.
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However, she said she never heard anything else about it from the physicians so she 'thought it was addressed.'
In a separate CBS Sunday Morning interview, Jill said it was 'shocking' that the diagnosis wasn't picked up by the White House doctors despite all of their examinations.
“I do feel we had amazing care in the White House, but somehow that was missed,” she said.
Fast forward to January 2025, where the couple had now left the White House: "But when it continued when we got out of the White House, I said, ‘Joe, we’ve got to go up to Jeff in Philly — something’s wrong,’ ” she recalled.
Joe listened to her concerns and he sought a second opinion, and was eventually diagnosed with an 'aggressive' form of prostate cancer in May that year.
Unfortunately, Jill says Joe 'will forever live with cancer', due to the delay in the diagnosis, which meant it metastasized into his bones.
“We have to be mindful of it every three months, testing and medicines,” Jill said.
“And anybody who’s gone through this cancer journey — and I’ve been through it many times with members of my family, of course with Beau — it’s constant. It’s daily. And I think it’s challenging," she revealed.
Joe's oldest son, Beau Biden, died of glioblastoma back in 2015.
According to the American Urological Association’s recommendations, men over 70 don't have routine blood tests to screen for prostate cancer because the disease is regarded as slow-growing.
Expressing her shock following Joe's diagnosis, Jill said: “I never, oh my God, I never thought it would be prostate cancer.”
Podcast host Ripa sympathised and shared that she had experienced the same with her father, and how it was found purely by chance following an accident.
“My dad was in a car accident and thought he injured his back because somebody was texting and driving and hit him from behind. And if he didn’t get into that accident, I don’t know what would’ve happened."
She added: "He didn’t realise that it was the cancer in his bones, so I’m grateful for the car accident, believe it or not, because at least we were able to treat it.”
“So when people were like, ‘There’s no way you can’t know,’ oh, yes, there is,” she added.
Jill ended by saying that even though Joe will never full beat the cancer, he is 'doing okay'.
Jen Thomas