This morning I had an appointment with my oncologist. Well, new one. Last time was the nurse practitioner filling in for my doctor who left the area. Today I met the official replacement. He wasn’t as personable as the one before, but he was thorough. We discussed my ongoing muscle issues, including my swollen hand. He ordered an ultrasound of my arm to make sure it wasn’t being caused by a blood clot since that’s a potential side effect of the tamoxifen I’m taking. Then we discussed switching me from tamoxifen to an aromatase inhibitor since it’s a better medicine post-menopause. But he had my hormone levels checked and ordered a bone density scan again since an AI can weaken bones. Finally, he told me I needed a proper colonoscopy. Yay.

Then I had to have my hormone injection shot, and because of my upcoming surgery, I couldn’t have the shot done in my stomach as usual. Instead, it had to go in the back of my arm. First the nurse did the lidocaine shot, followed by the hormone injection. And my arm wouldn’t stop bleeding. She kept switching out the bandaid and applying pressure, but it bleed for about five minutes. Then I started feeling lightheaded.

The nurse had me hold my arm while she got help. Two more nurses arrived. One helped stop the bleeding and one gave me a wet rag for my neck. They think the needle maybe hit a nerve. When it seemed the worst had passed, they gave me a soda and left me with the original nurse who said she’d sit with me until I felt better. Then my hands started going numb and the muscles started to contract. My fingers kept curling in on themselves and the tips felt like they were pulsating. It was the weirdest thing ever, but thankfully, only lasted about another 5 minutes or so before I started to feel better. The nurse and I were both a bit startled, but relieved it didn’t last long. Crazy.

So after all that, my hormone levels weren’t at the menopause levels they should be given that the shots should be shutting down my ovaries. I need to stay on tamoxifen, and my doctor said I should do the shots every month instead of every three months. UGH. I go back in six weeks for a re-check. The ultrasound of my arm was clear—no blood clots and no fluid buildup, which I’m thankful for. It must simply be tendinitis, so I’ll keep icing it and trying not to use it so much. I’m grateful nothing more came out of my visit today than a bit of excitement.