Woman says she felt ‘pretty good’ after surgery to remove cancerous mole on her face – until she took off the bandages (EXCLUSIVE)

need to know

• Daniella Mullins went for a full-body scan as she and her dermatologist explored her postpartum skin.

• When her dermatologist noticed a mole on her face, they decided to take a closer look

• Mullins was later diagnosed with stage 0 skin cancer, also known as carcinoma in situ

Daniella Mullins developed skin problems after giving birth to her daughter and decided to see a new dermatologist for regular check-ins.

When she went for a full-body scan in April 2025, her dermatologist noted a mole on her face, which Mullins told PEOPLE she first noticed in June 2015.

To the naked eye, Mullins, 34, says the mole looked “normal” but her doctor felt different.

“I didn’t notice my mole changing. It wasn’t until after this whole diagnosis, everything happened, that I went back and looked at the pictures and realized how much it had changed,” the Virginia native shares with PEOPLE.

Because Mullins recently gave birth, her dermatologist decided to wait six months before performing a biopsy.

On October 24, 2025, Mullins finally went in for a medical procedure, and a week later, she learned she had melanoma. She was diagnosed with stage 0 skin cancer, or carcinoma in situ, meaning the cancer was above her skin and had not yet spread.

Just before Thanksgiving, he underwent surgery to remove the mole and the surrounding area.

“If I hadn’t had the skin exam I scheduled, I don’t know when I would have found out I had melanoma on my face,” she says, adding that she had seen several dermatologists in the past and none raised concerns about the mole.

After the surgery, Mullins shared that she was feeling “pretty good” — until she took off her bandages.

“Two days after I took off my bandages from the procedure, it hit me,” she says. “Before, it was just a diagnosis on paper, and even during the process, I wasn’t worried, scared or anything.”

“Once I saw the effect on my face, it hit me, and it wasn’t because of aesthetics. It just became reality. It was a tangible thing,” shares Mullins.

While the mole was a small dot on her face, the incision spanned almost her entire cheek, as doctors often remove the area around the lesion in hopes of removing as much potential cancer as possible.

It would take a year for her scar to heal, but in the meantime, her doctor recommended “time, patience and Vaseline.”

“He said, ‘Just give it time. Just let your body do what it needs to do,'” she shared.

However, Mullins insists she’s less concerned about the scars and more focused on her health.

“My number one priority is to get this cancer out of me and move on,” she tells PEOPLE. “It’s important to note that some people care about that, and that’s okay; that’s valid too. I don’t want my experience and ‘ugly spots’ to scare people away from getting a skin exam.”

Going forward, she’ll get full-body scans every four months, which she’ll likely have to stay on top of for the rest of her life.

“Since it popped up, I now have a high chance of developing another one. Thankfully, because it was caught at stage 0, I don’t need more treatment. So it’s not like I need chemo,” she says. “Now it’s taking care of my scars, making sure it stays hydrated and the rest of my body … trying to notice any changes in me and being more aware of my skin.”

Mullins “randomly” decided to share her health journey on TikTok, which “took off and resonated with people.” After that, she became an advocate for regular skin checks.

“I continued to share my journey, especially after I found out I had skin cancer. I’m Latina, and both my parents are from Peru. I never thought I could have this cancer,” she admits. “I wasn’t taught that that was something I could achieve. I thought it was really eye-opening and important for other people to know that.”

Although some users were surprised by the size of Mullins’ scar, others reminded her that “a scar is a lifeline” and that they “have a scar better than cancer.”

For anyone who might find themselves in a similar situation, Mullins says to “take it one step at a time.”

“Go to what your doctor says, because it’s easy to Google, [go] On TikTok, and the spiral, but just take your doctor’s advice and take it one step at a time,” she told PEOPLE. “It’s a lot to process, and it’s not something to be ashamed of or afraid of alone.”

“If you have a support system, really, really lean on it, because I don’t think I would have been able to muster the strength without it,” Mullins adds.

His diagnosis has motivated him to focus on health in 2026 and beyond.

“Since this diagnosis, now I’m like, OK, I need to check my other things that I’ve been neglecting, because when you’re a mom, you put yourself last. It’s easy to fall behind on things, but I’ve scheduled everything I need to on the schedule, and I’m checking everything, one little bit at a time,” she says.

“I’m trying to be more preventative than dealing with the consequences of shutting things down.”

Read the original article on People