Woman from Liepāja loses hand to rare tumour, shares her story on social media

Mārīte Ķinēna, a 34-year-old woman from Liepāja, Latvia, had her right hand amputated last autumn. A very rare and aggressive tumour, a sarcoma, had developed in it. She later began writing short posts on social media about her experience and, according to an interview with the news site Delfi, receives dozens of messages every day. She urges people not to be indifferent to their health and not to ignore symptoms that can be temporarily suppressed with painkillers.

First signs

Mārīte first noticed something wrong in December 2023, when she felt a sensation like an electric current running through her hand as she sat in bed. It returned about a month later, then more and more often, and pain appeared too. She assumed she had strained her arm from carrying a pram and lifting her two sons.

Weight loss and a visit to the doctor

In 2024 she noticed she was losing weight. After two pregnancies she had weighed 84 kilograms for a year, but she dropped to 74 by March and 63 by July, without doing anything special to lose weight. By then she could no longer grip small objects with her dominant right hand. She went to her family doctor. Given the rapid weight loss and the fact that both of Mārīte's grandmothers had had cancer, the doctor had her fill in a questionnaire and ordered tests. Carpal tunnel syndrome was mentioned, and an ultrasound of the hand and an electroneurography test were recommended.

The test results the next day were perfect, with tumour markers close to zero. The pain returned more strongly in October, and in November a neurologist said the symptoms fit carpal tunnel syndrome and mentioned massages. Mārīte declined them.

Getting worse

There were long queues for the examinations. The pain grew, and she dropped her phone and dishes, could not pick up coins and could no longer fully bend her fingers. She waited for the tests, hoping to have carpal tunnel syndrome confirmed. The diagnosis that followed was cancer, rare and fast-progressing. The only choice was to agree to amputation.