Grace Garcia never imagined how an easy manicure would result in her cancer diagnosis. 

The 50-year-old shared her story this week via FOX 11, saying she had a manicure in November 2021 and didn’t expect it will result in a living nightmare. 

In accordance with Garcia, she tried to book an appointment at her usual salon right before Thanksgiving, nevertheless it was not available. She then decided to go to a unique salon near her workplace. 

The San Gabriel, California resident said the worker who did her manicure was “aggressive” while doing her cuticle on her right ring finger. 

Once the cosmetic beauty treatment was done, she said her finger looked “raw,” and it “hurt lots.” She also recalled that there was some kind of a “blister” that wouldn’t heal afterward. 

Garcia believed the technician may need used the identical set of tools on one other client before her. 

“She probably used the tool on a previous person. I don’t know. It sprouted, regardless of the thing was on my hand. … It popped up,” she told Today.com in one other interview. 

“It looked like a wart, and I’m like, ‘What on this planet is that this?” she added. 

When she returned home, she put antibiotic ointment on her wound. But when it got worse, she returned to the salon to tell the management of the worker’s mistake. 

To her surprise, the salon said the nail technician already got fired as a result of several complaints from other customers. 

“I used to be upset, and I went back, and I told them that lady cut me, and my finger continues to be bothering me. They said, ‘Oh, we fired her (after) loads of complaints.’ That was it,” she said. 

Apprehensive about why her finger was not healing properly after three months, she sought help from a physician who referred her to a dermatologist for a biopsy. 

Almost immediately after she visited the dermatologist, Garcia received an ominous call, and he or she knew things weren’t going well for her. 

“On my method to the automotive, he called me. That scared me. He said I would like to come back back,” she recalled. 

When Garcia was forwarded to UCLA to see Dr. Teo Soleymani, a specialist, she was informed that she had squamous cell carcinoma, possibly triggered by her manicure. 

Squamous cell carcinoma is a variety of skin cancer that develops within the squamous cells in the center and outer layers of the skin. Though not life-threatening, the condition might be aggressive, in line with Mayo Clinic. 

Dr. Soleymani told FOX 11 that he’s only seen a handful of cases brought on by manicures. 

“Rarely can we see high-risk squamous cell carcinoma arising from this, but I even have had half dozen with this phenomenon,” he said. 

Garcia was diagnosed with Stage 1 cancer. Dr. Soleymani said she’s fortunate that she was capable of seek medical attention early enough, or she may need ended up having her affected finger amputated. 

“Her persistence, not only was she capable of have an incredible final result, she probably saved herself from having her finger amputated,” said the specialist. 

Garcia had a surgery that allowed her doctors to get all the cancer out without removing an excessive amount of skin. Dr. Soleymani said it has a “high cure rate.”

“I fought all the best way from day one because I knew something was fallacious,” Garcia said. Her finger could also be back to normal, but she admitted that she feels traumatized.