Doctors told me my frozen finger was fractured... but it was actually a rare, aggressive tumor

We all get stiff joints from time to time and will often put it down to age and or having slept in a funny position.

This is what Natalie Garcia, 29, from New York, thought when she woke up one morning to find her middle finger was 'frozen'. 

Doctors echoed this, telling her the problem was likely a fracture or small bone breakage. 

Yet, two months later, Ms Garcia found herself sat in her doctor's office receiving the news of nightmares: her 'fractured' finger was in fact a rapidly-growing tumor. 

The diagnosis sparked the beginning of a grueling journey that saw her endure seven months of potent chemotherapy and eventually surgery to remove her finger. 

Natalie Garcia woke up one morning to find she couldn't move her finger, and doctors initially thought it was fractured

When they realized it was in fact a tumor, she had it removed, but within a month, it had grown back and doctors attempted to remove it again. The second time was less successful, and the mother of two eventually had her finger completely removed

'When she said the word tumor, my jaw dropped. I thought I had a fracture,' Ms Garcia said.

'I didn't know you could have a tumor in your finger.'

The ordeal began on January 1 last year, when Ms Garcia woke up to find she couldn't move her finger. It did not hurt but was slightly bent but she could not fully straighten it.

Two or three days later, the digit became swollen, so she went to urgent care where doctors gave her ibuprofen.

The physicians did an X-ray to find out why her finger was still not moving, but couldn't find anything and told Ms Garcia she was fine.

She returned home, but was called back hours later after doctors reviewed the X-ray again and informed her of a tiny fracture on her finger that they had missed at first, and advised her to see an orthopedic surgeon.

But when she returned to the hospital and underwent X-ray, she said the whole medical team began 'freaking out.'

'It looked like someone took an eraser and had erased part of my bone,' she said.

She was referred to a hand specialist for an MRI scan, who told her she wasn't sure what it was but thought it was a benign tumor.

In April, a hand tumor specialist recommend she underwent an open biopsy, where doctors cut open her finger to remove a small bit of the tumor to test it.

She had a ray amputation, which is when doctors bring the remaining fingers closer together to make it less obvious that one is missing

The results confirmed it was a benign tumor, but it was an aggressive type of giant cell tumor, so doctors removed it during surgery in May.

Ms Garcia had a tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT) - a rare type of tumor that grows in the joints and is not usually cancerous. Ms Garcia's was growing on both her finger bone and joint.

In very rare cases, TGCTs can turn into cancerous tumors.

Around 43 people out of every million in the world are diagnosed with TGCT each year.

Doctors still do not know what caused the tumor to develop in the first place. 

The next month, her finger started getting swollen and growing a lump.

The doctor said 'Oh my God, the tumor is back. This is very aggressive, we just removed it.'

She had surgery again to remove the second tumor. 'It was a fail,' she said.

'I was very disappointed after surgery.'

The doctor told her she would also have to take a chemotherapy pill or have her finger amputated.

In September 2023, the surgeon was unable to fully remove the tumor.

Feeling like she had no other choice, she started on the chemotherapy pill, with she stayed on until April 2024.

At first, her tumor started shrinking. There were a handful of times when she could not take the medication due to the delivery not having arrived, during which she said the tumor grew 'so fast.'

The medication then stopped working and the tumor began regaining size again, causing her finger to become crooked.

Doctors told her they could not save her finger and she would need to get it amputated because the tumor would always keep growing back.

She had a ray amputation, which is when doctors bring the remaining fingers closer together to make it less obvious that one is missing.

'I think this was the best decision even though it was a very hard decision and I am still grieving my finger,' she said.