Justice Ginsburg To Return To Work Soon

(AP)  Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg plans to be back at work for the court's next public session, less than three weeks after surgery for pancreatic cancer.

Ginsburg intends to be in court when the justices hear arguments on Feb. 23, Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said Friday.

The 75-year-old justice is currently recuperating at a New York hospital after undergoing surgery on Thursday. Arberg had no other information on Ginsburg's condition.

Ginsburg has been on the court more than 15 years and is its only woman.

Her illness raises the possibility that one of the ideologically divided court's leading liberals might have to curtail her work or even step down before she had planned. Pancreatic cancer is often deadly.

The diminutive justice underwent surgery for colon cancer in 1999, followed by chemotherapy and radiation, without missing a day on the bench.

Looking back on her first fight with what she called "a dreadful disease," Ginsburg said her treatment was arduous. But having a job to turn to was a great benefit.

"Work, I found, was the best balm," Ginsburg said in 2001.

Chemotherapy and radiation also are common following pancreatic surgery.

Ginsburg credited the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who died of thyroid cancer in 2005, with helping her through a difficult period.

"He kept my assignments light during the most trying weeks and he let me decide what I could tackle," Ginsburg said in 2005 at a conference on Rehnquist's legacy.

Ginsburg's plan for a quick return to work hinges on avoiding complications following surgery. Anywhere from 20 percent to 40 percent of patients encounter complications, depending on the type of pancreatic surgery, said Dr. Michael B. Farnell, chairman of the gastroenterologic and general surgery division at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Leakage of pancreatic fluid, which could cause an infection, is among the most common problems, Farnell said.

For now, Ginsburg will remain in the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York for seven to 10 days, said her surgeon, Dr. Murray Brennan, according to the court.

President Barack Obama expressed hope for her speedy recovery, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said, and offered his thoughts and prayers.

If Ginsburg or another justice leaves the court, it would fall to Obama to pick a successor. Anyone he might select to replace her probably would be as liberal as she, if not more so, keeping in place the 5-4 conservative tilt of the court.

The new cancer was discovered during a routine, annual exam late last month at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. A CT scan revealed a tumor measuring about 1 centimeter across at the center of the pancreas, the court said.

The court offered few details about the operation or her anticipated course of treatment.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly cancers. Nearly 38,000 cases a year are diagnosed and overall less than 5 percent of patients survive five years.

In more than 90 percent of those cases, the cancer isn't found until it has already begun spreading through the abdomen and beyond. Early pancreatic cancer produces few symptoms other than vague indigestion.

But when it is diagnosed at an early stage, as appears to be the case with Ginsburg, survival rates go up. The American Cancer Society estimates that 20 percent to 24 percent of patients whose pancreatic cancer is caught early survive five years.

Ginsburg's prognosis depends on a number of factors, including whether the tumor, despite its small size, had begun spreading to the lymph nodes, and what specific type it is. Most are aggressive, although a small proportion of patients have what Dr. John Marshall, a pancreatic cancer specialist at Georgetown University Hospital, calls "quieter ones."

"We want to be in that early group so we can have the surgery and have a potential chance at cure, but it is a big operation and a disease that does tend to spread even very early," he cautioned.

[blackyowe]

She is a sharp women and so she can do the job if she has the strength. I know 90 year olds with all their wits about them. Now if she starts acting like Ronnie Rayguns that is another story and its time to let someone else take over.

[colonieny]

She should not be driving, much less making decisions about our nation and future. If she were President, she would have to step down. I wish her well, but come on, it is not about her , only, it is about all of us. Leave gracefully. And you too andy.

[tmittelstaed]

The court protects it''s own so the rest of the justices will bend over backwards to accomodate Ginsburg, and since she is in the minority wing, it really doesen''t matter if she is that able to work - since they will really just trot her out to write the dissenting opinion on decisions they have already made. I do wish, though, that she retires early - we need a young, charismatic, powerful liberal on the bench to take up the fight against Chief Justice Roberts, who is likely to be on the court at least another 30 years.

[tmittelstaed]

I''ve survived cancer although not this type. Work is the most commonly used diversion to keep the patients mind off the disease - and keeping the patient from dwelling on the disease helps in the fight against cancer.
Make no mistake about it - what your seeing here is little more than pallative care. Once someone gets cancer, that is an indication that they have a genetic predisposition for it - "curing" cancer simply means that the cancer is gone from the body, but the predisposition is still there, and chances of getting it again are still higher than for the general public - that is why any cancer survivor must be periodically tested for it the rest of their lives.
Cancer also leaves a lot of damage behind, some of which is permanent and permanently weakens the body. Someone who is young and gets cancer can be "cured" and because of their youth, their body will adapt to the long term damage. Someone who is as old as she is, even if they get the cancerous cells out of her system, their body uses up it''s energy reserves doing so, and is just too old to ever really recover.

[steve777a]

If she voted AGAINST Bush being seated by U.S. Supreme Court, then she is O.K. with me!!! I wish her a speedy recovery. Now Cheney''s friend Scalia... that''s another story. The guy is a scumbag.

[jackp32]

She is the worst Sup. Ct. judge since Thurgood Marshall. She is a left wing ACLU advocate and needs to be removed from the bench for gross incompetence.

[whitewolf60]

Cancer really stinks.... I wish for the EarthMother to heal her and make her well again!

[texhillshill]

Posted by hdc77494 at 12:33 AM

So, where did you go to medical school?

[hamiltongrad]

ditto

[hdc77494]

While I wish her well, the average life expectency for this type of cancer is about eight months. I think she should resing and spend time with her family before she''s too sick to do anything.She''s led a commendable life of public service, but it''s time to go home.