Maria Menounos is proving her pancreatic cancer battle isn't keeping her down ... going online to show off her surgery scars, which she says actually make her smile.
The entertainment reporter and host shared the revealing pic Sunday night, showing 4 healing scars across her stomach -- saying her surgery earlier this year is something she's extremely grateful for ... sending love and thanks to everyone that helped her along the way.
She adds, "Now I see the scars that I sunscreen up carefully to protect and I smile." And, as you can imagine, she was met a lot of praise in the comments.
You'll recall, Maria announced her stage 2 pancreatic cancer diagnosis in January, but said last week that her doctors missed her tumor during an initial exam -- resulting in it doubling in size in only 2 months.
Maria said on the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast she's since learned an MRI could've spotted the growth ... but is still remaining hopeful as she looks into how docs missed the lump.
Regardless, Maria's remaining positive about her health struggles -- and with a baby girl on the way with her husband Keven Undergaro, she's now got a few reasons to keep smiling.