on 27 december 2011, presidential spokesman alfredo scoccimaro announced that kirchner had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer on 22 december and that she would undergo surgery on 4 january 2012. the standard procedure in these operations is to expose the thyroid gland so that a pathologist can take a sample, analyze it looking for carcinogenic cells, and then decide whether it needs to be removed. in kirchner's case, this step was omitted and the gland was removed directly. after the operation, it was revealed that she had been misdiagnosed and did not have cancer. on 5 october 2013, doctors ordered kirchner to rest for a month after they found blood on her brain caused by a head injury she received on 8 august 2012. she was re-admitted to hospital and had successful surgery on 8 october 2013 to remove blood from under a membrane covering her brain.