A cancer survivor deals with virtual examinations and how they can feel impersonal.
BY LAURA YEAGER
PUBLISHED JUNE 16, 2020
As well as being a cancer blogger, Laura Yeager is a religious essayist and a mental health blogger. A graduate of The Writers’ Workshop at The University of Iowa, she teaches writing at Kent State University and Gotham Writers’ Workshop. Laura survived cancer twice.
I don't like telehealth appointments. Cancer is isolating in itself. Going to see my cancer doctors was always comforting. My oncologist always wrapped her arms around me at the end of the appointment. There are no hugs with telehealth.
During a medical exam for cancer, the doctor lays her hands on you. She checks to see if the cancer came back. During my most recent telehealth appointment, I had to place my own hands on my own body. Something was lost in the translation.
"What I want you to do," she said, "is place your hands above your collar bones and press. You're checking to see if your lymph nodes are enlarged. Do you feel anything?"
"No," I said.
