At that time Lu was employed at the Executive Yuan and teaching night classes at Ming Chuan Women's College, yet she remained an active writer and speaker in the feminist movement. All the overwork eventually got to her, however; she came down with thyroid cancer, and was forced to ease up a bit.
呂秀蓮當時任職於行政院，晚上在銘傳商專教書，並不斷撰文、演講鼓吹新女性主義，太過勞累終至罹患甲狀腺癌，使得她警覺到生活步調需要改變。