Woman's Finger Amputated After Shocking Discovery That Stiff Hand Was Actually Benign Tumor (Exclusive)

In March, doctors told Natalie Garcia she had a tumor in her finger

When Natalie Garcia woke up on Jan. 1, 2023, she noticed she couldn't move her middle finger.

Immediately, the mother of three turned to Google to look up the symptoms of her stiff finger. At the time, she suspected it might be trigger finger, a condition where a finger gets stuck in a bent position, as stated by the Mayo Clinic.

But a few days later, Garcia, 29, noticed her finger starting to swell. Concerned, she visited urgent care, where they prescribed ibuprofen for the swelling and conducted an X-ray of her hand. Initially, doctors assured her they didn't see anything abnormal. However, later they called her to inform her she had a fracture in her hand.

"At the time, I was a teacher aide so it made working in a special needs class a little hard because of how stiff my finger was. Eventually, I had to leave that job, unfortunately," Garcia tells PEOPLE exclusively.

The next day, she visited an orthopedic doctor who advised her to wear a splint and assured her that the fracture would heal on its own. But as time passed, she never regained motion in her finger.

Eventually, in March, during a follow-up check-up, doctors took another X-ray and discovered Garcia had bone loss. They referred her to a hand specialist, who, based on an MRI, suggested Garcia had a tumor in her finger.

"I was freaking out on the inside because I didn’t even know it was possible to get tumors in your fingers," she adds. "I didn’t even know I would ever in my life get a tumor; it was shocking news."

Garcia was referred to a tumor hand specialist, who told her to get another MRI with and without contrast. In April, she had a biopsy.

The doctor sent the biopsy to the pathology to see exactly what type of tumor it was, and when it came back, Garcia learned it was a benign tumor.

"It was a little bit relieving when they told me it was benign. At the time, I didn't know what benign meant, but they explained to me that it means it's noncancerous, so it made me feel a little better. I still was very shocked."

In May, Garcia underwent tumor removal surgery. She was grateful, thinking this would solve the problem, but by the end of June, she noticed the tumor was back.

"I had a lump and it started growing very fast, very aggressively," she says, adding how she had a second tumor removal surgery in August, which ended up not being successful.

Following the second surgery, doctors suggested Garcia start a pill form of chemotherapy to treat the tumor, which she began taking in September. But after a few months of taking the medication, Garcia says her finger began looking crooked.

Armed with questions, Garcia sought a second opinion.

"[The second doctor] broke everything down for me, including how bad the tumor was and how much damage it has done," she says. "That’s why I had to make the decision to amputate my finger."

On April 23, Garcia underwent surgery to amputate her finger. Afterward, she posted a TikTok video that unexpectedly went viral, garnering over 40.5 million views.

In the video, Garcia shares more about the timeline of her journey leading up to the amputation.

"I am grieving my finger because I never expected to lose a whole finger," she says.

"The next step is to regain my strength because I haven’t been able to make a fist with my right hand since Dec. 31, 2022. So, physical therapy is the next step. I’m taking it day by day, and we’ll see how things go."

Since the surgery, Garcia has continued to share updates on her social media accounts, including how she's adjusting to life with four fingers.

"When I'm counting to 5 and realize I only have 4 fingers," she wrote alongside a video of herself counting on her hand.

"How did it feel when u saw that u have 4 fingers for the first time?" one user replied on the video.

"Very weird😭," Garcia responded.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.