Ruth Bader Ginsburg Says She's 'Very Much Alive' in New Interview

Published: 7/24/2019, 2:10:09 PM EDT

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Says She's 'Very Much Alive' in New Interview — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, in a Nov. 30, 2018 file photo. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that she's "very much alive" in a new interview, her first sitdown since disappearing from the public eye for months late last year following health issues.

Ginsburg, 86, is the oldest member of the nation's highest court.

Asked about people being concerned with her health, Ginsburg told NPR: "There was a senator, I think it was after my pancreatic cancer, who announced with great glee that I was going to be dead within six months."

"That senator, whose name I have forgotten, is now himself dead and I am very much alive," she added.

Jim Bunning, a former Major League Baseball player who later served in the U.S. Senate representing Kentucky, died in May 2017.

Bunning told people at a dinner that pancreatic cancer is "bad cancer, the kind you don't get better from."

He said in a statement later: “I apologize if my comments offended Justice Ginsberg. That certainly was not my intent. It is great to see her back at the Supreme Court today and I hope she recovers quickly. My thoughts and prayers are with her and her family.”

Ginsburg said that following the diagnosis, she followed the advice of opera singer Marilyn Horne, who referenced her battle with cancer in 2005.

The justices of the Supreme Court gather for a formal group portrait to include the new Associate Justice, Brett Kavanaugh, top row, far right, at the Supreme Court Building in Washington, on Nov. 30, 2018. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo) — The justices of the Supreme Court gather for a formal group portrait to include the new Associate Justice, Brett Kavanaugh, top row, far right, at the Supreme Court Building in Washington, on Nov. 30, 2018. J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

"And she said, 'I will live,' not that 'I hope I live,' or 'I want to live,' but 'I will live,'" Ginsburg told NPR. "The work is really what saved me, because I had to concentrate on reading the briefs, doing a draft of an opinion, and I knew it had to get done. So I had to get past whatever my aches and pains were just to do the job."

Ginsburg said she spoke with Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who died on July 16 at age 99, shortly before his death.

As they rode in a car, Ginsburg said that she wanted to serve at least as long as Stevens, who was on the court until he was 90.

"I said that my dream is that I will stay at the court as long as he did," she said. "And his immediate response was, 'Stay longer!' "

L-R) Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg attend the ceremonial swearing in of Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Oct. 8, 2018. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) — L-R) Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg attend the ceremonial swearing in of Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Oct. 8, 2018. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Health Issues

Ginsburg has had multiple bouts of cancer, including the diagnosis she referred to.

In November 2018, Ginsburg was hospitalized after fracturing several ribs when she fell in her office. Ginsburg was treated and released.

Tests taken while she was at the hospital, though, showed she had lung cancer. The next month, she underwent surgery to remove the cancerous growths.

“Two nodules in the lower lobe of her left lung were discovered incidentally during tests performed at George Washington University Hospital to diagnose and treat rib fractures sustained in a fall,” the Supreme Court said.

The nodules were removed and there was no trace of any remaining disease.

The surgery caused her to miss oral arguments for the first time since she was appointed to the Supreme Court but the court said she could still participate through reading briefs and transcripts.

Ginsburg wasn't seen in public for months, prompting conspiracy theories that she had died or was in poor health. She appeared in February at a play and returned to work several days later.

Ginsburg has resisted retiring and has made negative comments about President Donald Trump, who would nominate her replacement if she did step down while he was in office.

Ginsburg later apologized and Trump has said positive things about her during her health ordeals.