After undergoing treatment for a malignant tumor discovered on her pancreas, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Tuesday she is “feeling very good.”
Speaking at an event hosted by the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton School of Public Service, the 86-year-old Supreme Court justice was asked how she is faring after completing her three-week course of radiation treatment last month.
“I’m pleased to say that I am feeling very good tonight,” Ginsburg told the crowd.
Ginsburg’s recent treatment for pancreatic cancer was disclosed by the Supreme Court late last month and prompted concerns about her future on the high court. The cancer was discovered after Ginsburg had a routine blood test in early July, and a biopsy performed July 31 confirmed the growth was malignant.
The Supreme Court said Ginsburg “tolerated treatment well” and would not need additional treatment.
Her bout with cancer was her second in nine months. Late last year, Ginsburg had surgery to remove cancerous nodules from her left lung. She was also treated for pancreatic cancer in 2009 and colon cancer in 1999.
Through her health woes, Ginsburg said it was her work at the Supreme Court that “saved me.”
“Instead of dwelling on my physical discomforts, if I have an opinion to write or a brief to read, I know I’ve just got to get it done and so I have to get over it,” she said.
Ginsburg’s remarks about her health follow comments she made at the National Book Festival on Saturday, during which she said she is alive and “on my way to being very well.”
Ginsburg was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, who introduced the justice Tuesday. In recalling her interview with Clinton before she was selected as his nominee to the high court, Ginsburg joked that while some men had a “certain discomfort talking to a woman, that was not that way with President Clinton.”
