Specialist explains Melania Trump's kidney procedure

(WJBK) - First lady Melania Trump is recovering Monday night after kidney surgery Monday.

The White House said she is expected to remain at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for the rest of the week. The procedure was successful and she is said to be in good spirits.

We are told it is a fairly routine procedure. Dr. Craig Rogers, the head of Henry Ford Hospital's Renal Surgery said she likely had some painful symptoms.

"The potential problems from these benign tumors if they get big enough - (are) pain, bleeding, blood in the urine," Rogers said.

Rogers calls her benign kidney condition rare, but treated with a very routine procedure. she underwent what's called an embolization. It is a non-invasive procedure where a catheter is inserted into the primary artery leading to the non-cancerous mass, which then cuts off the blood flow causing the tumor to shrink.

"These benign tumors can get big enough where they cause bleeding," Rogers said. "The embolization procedure is a preemptive measure to prevent those bleeding problems."

Melania Trump is the first to go through such a serious medical procedure since Nancy Regan who underwent a mastectomy.

Her surgery is being called a success. Normally, this is an outpatient procedure, but the first lady will be recovering the rest of the week in the hospital. 

(This is) more for monitoring afterwards," Rogers said. "So when you cut off blood supply to any part of the body, you have to monitor it. It is essentially killing cells in that part of the body. But these are cells you don't want to be there, but the body can still react to that."

Vice-President Mike Pence said the procedure was long planned.