Supreme Court building – pixabay photo

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had two small cancerous nodules removed from her lower left lung recently. The operation is called a lobectomy. It is the removal of a single lobe in the lung. Our left lung has two lobes and our right lung has three lobes.

Justice Ginsburg has a history or cancer. In 1999, she had surgery to remove a colorectal cancer. In 2009, she was treated for pancreatic cancer. Researchers know that certain cancers spread to other places in the body. Colon cancer typically metastasizes to the liver, the lungs, and brain. Pancreatic cancer metastasizes to the abdomen, lungs, bones, brains and other organs.

The success of treating of any cancer is to treat it as early as possible. Stage 1 cancer indicates that the cancer is relatively small and contained in one location. Stage 2 signifies that it is larger than Stage 1 cancer but has not left its location. Sometimes a Stage 2 cancer (depends on the type) can spread to the lymph nodes around the cancer location.

Stage 3 denotes a large cancer mass that has started to spread to other tissues and organs. Lymph nodes are also infected with the cancerous growth. Stage 4 suggests that the cancer has spread to other organs.

Justice Ginsburg has been fortunate that her cancers were caught very early and the treatments appeared to have stopped the advancement of cancer to other areas of her body. My understanding of the genesis and development of cancer is that we all have cancer cells circulating in our bodies. They may or may not find a ‘home’ and live there is a dormant state until there is a chance for them to grow.

She was fortuitous because her small lung tumors would most likely not have been found quickly if it wasn’t for a recent fall when she fractured her ribs. Doctors don’t look for something unless there are symptoms. Most diseases don’t have symptoms until they have grown significantly. How many people have your heard about who have been told they have a tumor and have less than a year to live? Their tumor might be the size of a soft ball – and, they never knew it.

There is no further treatment planned for Justice Ginsburg based on her latest tests. She will be monitored often to ensure her health.

Cancer normally doesn’t have a single cause. Smoking, tobacco use, diet, physical activity, sun radiation, electronic radiation, viruses, stress, inflammation, and infections are common causes of cancer. You can have multiple causes of a cancer.

If you are unfortunate to have a cancer, there are several things you should avoid. Sodas, diet foods, refined white flour, refined sugars, fruits and vegetables with pesticides and other toxins, meats and dairy with hormones and antibiotics, and farmed fish should be avoided.

Ordinarily there are no easy tests for cancer. I recommend the highly sensitive c-reactive protein (CRP) blood test to be incorporated with your annual physical. It is an indicator of inflammation. Inflammation is usually associated with disease growth. High levels of CRP might indicate cancer, as well as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other degenerative diseases.

The key to any disease treatment is to catch it early. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been fortunate to have been diagnosed and treated very early with her health problems.

One Response

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *