Woman Says She Felt ‘Pretty Good’ After Surgery to Remove Cancerous Mole on Her Face — Until She Took Bandage Off (Exclusive)
Woman Says She Felt ‘Pretty Good’ After Surgery to Remove Cancerous Mole on Her Face — Until She Took Bandage Off (Exclusive)
Daniela Mullins first noticed the small mole on her face in 2015, but hadn’t realized how much it had changed over the years
Daniela Mullins
Daniela Mullins before and after her surgery.
NEED TO KNOW
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Daniela Mullins went in for a full-body scan while she and her dermatologist were figuring out her postpartum skin
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When her dermatologist saw the mole on her face, they decided to get a closer look
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Mullins was later diagnosed with Stage 0 skin cancer, also known as carcinoma in situ
Daniela Mullins was having skin issues after giving birth to her daughter and decided to go see a new dermatologist for a regular check-in.
When she went in for a full-body scan in April 2025, her dermatologist took note of the mole on her face, which Mullins tells PEOPLE she first noticed around June 2015.
To the naked eye, Mullins, 34, says the mole looked “normal,” but her doctor felt differently.
“I didn’t notice my mole changing at all. It wasn’t until this whole diagnosis, everything happened, that I went back and looked at pictures and realized how much it had changed,” the Virginia resident shares with PEOPLE.
Daniela Mullins
Daniela Mullins
Because Mullins was recently postpartum, her dermatologist decided to wait six months before doing a biopsy.
On Oct. 24, 2025, Mullins finally went in for the medical procedure, and one week later, she learned she had melanoma. She was diagnosed with Stage 0 skin cancer, or carcinoma in situ, meaning that the cancer was on top of her skin and hadn’t spread yet.
Just before Thanksgiving, she had surgery to remove the mole and the surrounding area.
“If it wasn’t for that skin check I had scheduled, I don’t know when I would’ve realized that I had melanoma on my face,” she shares, noting that she had seen multiple dermatologists in the past and no one had ever raised concerns about the mole.
After the surgery, Mullins shares that she was feeling “pretty good” — until she took her bandages off.
“Two days after I took off my bandage from the procedure, that’s when it hit me,” she says. “Before then, it was just a diagnosis on paper, and even during the procedure, I wasn’t worried, scared or anything.”
“Once I saw the impact on my face, it hit me, and not because of aesthetics. It just became reality. It was a tangible thing,” Mullins shares.
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While the mole was just a small dot on her face, the incision stretched nearly her entire cheek, since doctors often remove the area around the lesion in hopes of eliminating as much potential cancer as possible.
Her scar will take a full year 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 shares.
However, Mullins emphasizes that she’s less concerned about the scar and more focused on her health.
Daniela Mullins
Daniela Mullins after surgery.
“My number one importance was just getting this cancer out of me and moving forward,” she tells PEOPLE. “It’s important to note that some people do care about that, and that’s okay; that’s valid, too. I don’t want my experience and ‘ugly scar’ to scare people away from getting skin checks.”
Moving forward, she will get full-body scans every four months, something she will likely have to stay on top of for the rest of her life.
“Because this popped up, I have a higher chance of developing another one now. Thankfully, because it was caught at Stage 0, I don’t need further treatment. So it’s not like I need chemo,” she says. “Now it’s taking care of my scar right now, making sure it stays hydrated and making sure that the rest of my body… trying to notice any changes I might have in moles and being more aware of my skin.”
Mullins “randomly” decided to share her health journey on TikTok, which “took off and resonated with people.” She has since become an advocate for regular skin checks.
“I continued sharing my journey, especially after I learned that I could get skin cancer. I’m Latina, and my parents are both from Peru. I didn’t think that this would ever be a cancer I could get,” she admits. “I wasn’t taught that that was something I could get. I thought it was really eye-opening and important for other people to know this.”
Although some users were shocked by the size of Mullins’ scar, others reminded her that the “scar is a lifeline” and that they’d “rather have a scar than cancer.”
As for anyone who might find themselves in a similar position, Mullins says to “take it one step at a time.”
Daniela Mullins
Daniela Mullins’ scar
“Go with what your doctor is saying, because it’s easy to Google, [go] on TikTok, and spiral, but just go with the advice of your doctor and take it one step at a time,” she tells PEOPLE. “It is a lot to process, and this isn’t anything to be ashamed or afraid of alone.”
“If you have a support system, really, really lean on it, because I don’t think I would’ve been able to muster the strength without it,” Mullins adds.
Her diagnosis has motivated her to focus on her health in 2026 and beyond.
“Ever since this diagnosis, now I’m like, okay, I need to get my other things checked that I’ve been neglecting, because when you’re a mom, you just put yourself last. It’s easy to fall behind on things, but I’ve scheduled everything I need to schedule, and I’m getting everything checked out, a little bit at a time,” she says.
“I’m trying to be more preventative than having to face the consequences of putting stuff off.”
Read the original article on People
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