Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg undergoes surgery for lung cancer: NPR



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Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg is in her third fight against cancer. In 1999, she was treated for colorectal cancer. in 2009, it was a pancreatic cancer.

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This is the third time that Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg has had cancer. In 1999, she was treated for colorectal cancer. in 2009, it was a pancreatic cancer.

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg was operated on Friday for early-stage lung cancer, a NPR spokeswoman said. Doctors at the Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital in New York performed a lobectomy, removing one of the five lung lobes.

In the absence of complications in recovery, doctors say the outlook is coming out well for Ginsburg, 85. Back in the field for the start of the next pleading session in early January.

The cancer was discovered after the fall of Ginsburg, fracturing several shores in November. . By taking a scan of his ribs, the doctors noticed an abnormality in one of the lung lobes. Subsequent biopsies and other initial tests revealed two non-small cell cancerous lesions with no detectable lymph node involvement.

According to a Supreme Court press release:

"According to the thoracic surgeon Valerie Rusch, the two nodules removed during the surgery proved to be malignant during the initial evaluation of the pathology. the surgery, none The analyzes performed before the surgery have revealed no signs of illness elsewhere in the body.At the present time, no further treatment is expected.Ginsburg Judge rests comfortably and should stay in the hospital for a few days. "

Dr. Douglas Mathisen, president of thoracic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, said the recovery from such an operation usually lasts between two and four days at the hospital, the patient can go home, do office work and call within a week. This assumes that the operation is going well and that there are no complications.

Mathisen said, "Nowadays, more and more patients aged 70 to 80 are recovering fairly quickly, because we detect many more lung cancers at an early stage. "when the treatment is much more effective and successful.

In treatment, the removal of a lobe is considered "the gold standard", and although it means a loss of 15 to 20% of the lung, it "can recover", has he declares, while the other four lobes take up the lost function.

Mathisen and other thoracic surgeons have stated that Judge Ginsburg's prognosis will ultimately depend on the results of the pathology, which will only be available a few days after the operation. In the absence of lymph node involvement, surgeons contacted by NPR have stated that the prognosis for the absence of cancer at five years is 80%.

The involvement of lymph nodes would reduce these probabilities to 50% to 55% said Mathisen. Dr. Cameron Wright, also a general thoracic surgeon from Massachusetts and professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, estimates that the probabilities are lower at 40% if the lymph nodes are affected.

Rusch, who practiced the operation at Sloan Kettering, is a world-renowned lung surgeon. The American College of Surgeons this year has chosen for its highest distinction, the Distinguished Service Award. Rusch uses a robot and video cameras to perform his operations.

This method, as well as other new methods of thoracic surgery, are minimally invasive and use only small incisions. But the serious complications of surgery range from 5 to 10 percent, Wright said. And the death rate of surgery is 1 in 100.

Third fight with cancer

This is the third fight of a cancer committed by the judge Ginsburg. In 1999, she was treated for colorectal cancer. in 2009, it was pancreatic cancer and now lung cancer. During her 25 years in court, however, she has never missed a day of oral argument.

The next day of argument is Jan. 7, and Mathisen stated that it was possible that she could keep her record intact, but warned that exaggerating excessively may finally slow down a patient, which means "one step forward and five steps back".

The news of Ginsburg The last fight against cancer is another blow to the Liberals of the Supreme Court, which are now 5 to 4 against the country's highest court.

Ginsburg has become a feminist cultural icon and challenges the image of the angry feminist. She is both benevolent and determined and takes care not to waste her energy in emotional reactions.

She has become the leading liberal voice in the Supreme Court and, even though she is recovering completely from this latest fight against cancer, she will likely be "playing hurt" for a while. It's something she has done for years, even until the death of her beloved husband for 56 years in 2010. But she's 85 years old and there's no way to wipe her off, even if his mind remains alive. 19659029] No, Ruth Bader Ginsburg does not intend to retire any time soon “/>

Indeed, even though she was secretly undergoing a series of tests and consulting a range of doctors, she made several public appearances and was interviewed three times by the public, reciting from memory the words of several operatic arias about his famous friendship and his legal duel with the late conservative judge Antonin Scalia.

If Ginsburg's state of health deteriorated further, President Trump could be offered a third opportunity to occupy a seat on the Supreme Court.

After centrist conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement earlier this year, Trump chose Conservative Brett Kavanaugh to replace Kennedy. After two conflicting hearings, one of which related to sexual assault charges that Kavanaugh denied, he was confirmed in a close vote.

In early 2017, the GOP-controlled Senate changed the rules to allow a simple majority to confirm the appointment of a Supreme Court judge, paving the way for Trump's first choice, the curator Neil Gorsuch.

A year ago, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took the unprecedented step of blocking President Barack Obama's presidential candidate, Merrick Garland, for nearly a year after his death. of the Conservative Scalia in February 2016.

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