On February 15, Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg returned to work after being out for six to eight weeks after surgery .

Ginsburg was on leave after a pulmonary lobectomy (lung operation) in which they removed two cancerous nodules from her left lung on December 21, 2018. She was hospitalized for five days after the operation.

The cancer was found in November 2018, after she fell in her office and broke several ribs. She returned to work after the fall but while getting treatment for her chest the cancer was discovered.

Besides battle cancer, she also had to get a stent in her heart in 2014 and lost her husband of 56 years, Marten Ginsburg, in 2010.

Ginsburg never missed a day of court until she was forced to stay home because of her health in January 2019. Even while she was resting at home, Ginsburg continued to read the cases and transcripts with her votes still being counted as well.

Ginsburg’s presence in the court is important to American liberals and American women.

Without her presence, President Donald Trump has the power to change the court to be more conservative. The nine-member court is currently divided 5-4 with Democrats and Republicans.

Spokeswoman for the court, Kathy Arberg, released a statement saying that Ginsburg’s “post-surgery evaluation indicates no evidence of remaining disease, and no further treatment is required.”

This is her third battle with cancer in the span of twenty years. Ginsburg battled colorectal cancer in 1999 and also battled pancreatic cancer a decade later.

In the 1970s, Ginsburg was a trailblazer against gender discrimination. She has also spent twelve years on US Court of Appeals for DC circuit and now has been on the Supreme Court for twenty five years.

She is the second female justice to be in the Supreme Court. During her career, she also became the first tenured woman professor teaching at Columbia and Rutgers University Law School.

Ginsburg is the oldest justice, turning 86 on March 15.