It's pancreatic cancer. Early stage or no, unless she's extremely lucky she's only got a little time.

If you're going to get cancer, pancreatic cancer is not the one you want, in fact it's one of the top 3 you don't want.

That's scary. I've heard pancreatic and liver cancer are two of the worst.
Scumbags like Pat Robertson actually prayed for her death--unfortunately for him, a Democrat would now be the one to replace her.

What Paul in KY said! There's more than one kind of pancreatic cancer, but the most common one is often a ticket to a fairly quick funeral. Thank goodness a Democrat is in the White House!

I hope against hope that Ginsburg enjoys a full and prompt recovery.

That said, the stimulus "debate" offers an interesting preview of the GOP's and the media's -- but I repeat myself -- reaction to Obama's first Supreme Court pick. Unlike the stimulus bill, Obama won't be able to modify the pick; it'll be all or nothing. I expect he'll put forth a relatively moderate liberal, someone the likes of Snowe and Collins can support.

Then the rest of the GOP will howl, and the so-called "liberal" media will allow them to dominate the debate. And naturally, all complaints about the Senate Democrats' opposition -- such as it was -- to Roberts and Scalito will be forgotten.

It'd be nice if we had an opposition party that acted in good faith, or at least a media that called them on their bad faith. And as long as I'm wishing, I'd like a pony.

I've known people who got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and were gone within weeks. This is VERY bad for Justice Ginsburg.

My husband's grandfather died quickly from pancreatic cancer. Justice Ginsburg has one thing going for her that most of us don't: she's getting her medical care from the NIH. I imagine she'll have access to the best and most cutting edge treatments. Still, it is worrisome.

I wish her the best.

Can't wait for the GOP hold on her replacement, if that comes to pass.

Hope she gets well soon.

Steve, you don't bounce back from or "beat" pancreatic cancer: it is 98% fatal. Steve Jobs is a rare exception because he lucked out because he had a very rare form of pancreatic cancer. In almost all cases, you only have at most just a few years left after diagnosis.

Would that we all had access to the Best Healthcare Available, no matter who we are, by whom we are employed or even if not employed.

Justice Ginsburg's condition brings the Supreme Court debate into the forefront, to be added to all the other critical discussions taking place on the economy, healthcare and military matters, to name only three.

I have absolute trust that Obama is the wisest President we have ever had and his decisions and methods of handling our crisis are made with a deep compassion for all concerned, even those who oppose him.

One more thing: KY is now crying for aid from the very government they would hope fails (Rush is probably very popular in KY). Karma is a bitch!

I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john

I'm put off by all this she's-a-goner talk. We don't know what kind of cancer she's dealing with -- until we do, Steve got it just right (as usual) with wishing her the best and leaving it at that.

I wish her all the best at most, and freedom from pain at least. This is truly sad news.

We don't know what kind of cancer she's dealing with

It says so right there at the top: Pancreatic cancer. The prognosis is extremely poor. There's no need to gussy it up with happy talk.

Pancreatic cancer is not invariably fatal; if caught early (2 cm tumor or less) the five year survival rate is 18-24%. See http://tinyurl.com/b6fczm Justice Ginsburg's tumor was 1 cm. I wish her a speedy recovery and a long tenure on the bench.

I'm a little skeptical of those five year survival rates. Of all my friends and family who have died from cancer, all but one of them had five year survival rates over 50%. And none of them lived even three years. I guess they were unlucky. The good news for Ginsberg is that it was discovered early and she has great doctors. She has a much better chance than most people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. But it's still a really bad form of cancer.

What is being highlighted here is our fear of death and its discussion. Americans are so afraid of death, and especially the Medical industry. So what if Ms. Ginsburg has a terminal illness? Let her decide consciously how she wants to handle it. She may want to retire so she can spend the rest of her life, regardless of how long or short, doing what she truly wants to do. If that is continuing on the Bench, then so be it. If it is travelling the world or feeding the hungry or getting loaded, so be it. Part of the problem with this world is that most people do not do what they want, then regret it when they have no time left. This is a gift for her and for us, if we choose to see it that way.

I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john

I have a dream -- an America where *all* citizens have access to free or small-co-pay annual exams that include CAT scans. Think how many lives could be saved, how much expensive treatment, long-term care, and human suffering could be obviated.

All the best to Justice Ginsburg.

Sorry steve, you don't "bounce back" from pancreatic cancer. It's the kiss of death.

Annual CT scans for everyone might not be such good thing: there's a significant radiation dose involved, something like one or two rads.. which is itself a cancer risk. In Ginsburg's case it made sense, since they were worried about recurrence of her colon cancer.

Americans are so afraid of death

Honey, everyone is afraid of death. Some cultures and religions just hide it better than others.

This is indeed bad news for Justice Ginsburg. Even if the surgery is successful, post-surgical complications may impede her abiliy to continue to serve on the court. See, http://www.salon.com/env/feature/2009/02/06/ginsburg/