Khloe Kardashian revealed earlier this week that she recently had a tumor removed from her face, and now her plastic surgeon, Dr. Garth Fisher, is detailing the procedure.
Dr. Fisher told Fox News Digital that the process with Kardashian was very quick, from the time she called him to when the procedure actually took place. According to him, she called him asking what she should do, and three days later he was removing the tumor from her face.
While he couldn’t get into specifics about Kardashian’s procedure due to laws which protect patient's privacy, he was able to share what his thought process was throughout the experience, and why he was impressed by her.
"She had something on the side of her cheek that she just picked at, didn't really know what it was and wasn't paying attention to it," Dr. Fisher said. "Then she went and got a biopsy of this, and the biopsy showed that it was really dangerous. Potentially something could be fatal, and of course, that got her attention."
KHLOE KARDASHIAN SAYS SHE IS 'HEALING' AFTER HAVING TUMOR REMOVED FROM HER FACE: 'VERY GRATEFUL'
According to Dr. Fisher, upon hearing it was potentially fatal, she called him and followed his advice to get a second opinion. After the diagnosis was confirmed, they moved forward with the decision to pursue surgery.
"I had to get significant margins from that, which I'll tell you, to take off something in the middle of somebody's cheek, it doesn't matter who it is, it's not a comfortable thing to do," he explained. "What she had to do is a large … cut out. I was just amazed at how mature and how courageous she was."
Dr. Fisher was impressed Kardashian never asked what her face would look like after the surgery, and while he was nervous about potential scarring, she didn’t seem too concerned with it, which is something he "really respect(ed) her for."
In terms of her prognosis, Dr. Fisher is confident he was able to get enough of the tumor out to where he believes Kardashian is safe for now, but also saying "if it came back as something else, (he) might have to cut out more."
The recovery process, while simple, could take more time than ideal, in terms of the wait time for the incision to heal.
"It takes months and months and months for things to heal, sometimes six months, sometimes a year and a half," he said. "It just has to go through this whole staircase of events, but I would say she's going to be trying to protect this as she heals for the next 4 to 6 months, something like that."
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While he is confident this particular tumor has been taken care of and there isn’t much of a recovery process aside from waiting for the incision to heal, the doctor advises Kardashian to remain vigilant in scanning her body for other questionable moles in the future because of her history with melanoma.
When Kardashian was 19, she had a similar situation in which a mole on her back had to be removed because it revealed itself to be melanoma.
"I think she's had some history of some of these similar things, and I think she's got to be on a heightened alert for everything," he said. "She's going to be watching all parts of her body and doing surveillance."
He then extended that advice to everyone, explaining that everyone should go to the dermatologist at least once a year and have them look at the moles on their body, especially in those areas where it’s hard for someone to check themselves, like their back and scalp.
"I would encourage everybody, especially if you have light eyes, (to) really look for moles," he said. "Don't panic, most of the time it's nothing, but you should be smart about this and check yourself."
On Tuesday, Kardashian thanked her doctors, telling Fisher – who is a world-renowned plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills with over 20 years of experience – she's grateful to him even though she knew he didn’t want to cut into her face "but you did it to protect me."
"I trust you with everything and I’m so grateful we caught this early. I was lucky and all I have is a scar to tell a story with. Most people aren’t as lucky as me and I’m forever grateful and thankful."
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"‘Everyone you meet is fighting a battle we know nothing about. Try not to judge and be kind for you have no idea what they are going through,’" she quoted.
