text: Veteran ESPN reporter Shelley Smith is set to return to work six months after announcing she had cancer. Smith revealed on Twitter last October that she had breast cancer, and since then has undergone chemotherapy. She will make her first appearance on April 30, just before the NFL draft. Scroll down for video . Veteran ESPN reporter Shelley Smith (above) is set to return to work six months after announcing she had breast cancer . Smith (above with Carmelo Anthony) will make her first appearance on April 30, just before the NFL draft,. interviewing Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota . She revealed she had cancer on twitter last October . Smith, 56, also revealed in an interview with Sports Illustrated, where she worked prior to her position at ESPN, that she will not be wearing a wig upon her return and is proud of her bald head. 'I have a friend who is a former oncology nurse who tells me that when your hair falls out, it means the chemo is working,' she said. 'That’s the attitude I took into this. I miss my hair, but I took what she said to heart: My bald head means I have a fight and I look at it as being fortunate to have a battle.' For her first assignment back, Smith will head to Hawaii and be with Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota for a feature that will air prior to the draft. Mariota, the winner of this year's Heiman Trophy, is expected by most pundits to go first or second in the draft alongside Florida star, and fellow quarterback, Jameis Winston. She will also be with Mariota during the draft and interview him after he is selected before she returns for five more rounds of chemotherapy. Smith (above) will undergo five more rounds of chemotherapy after the NFL draft . And while she says she still has a long road to recovery, she is getting back into the swing of things - and even hitting the gym. 'I wasn’t very good, but I did it,' she said. 'I get stronger every day and that really helps my confidence. You never really know how strong you are until you go through something like this and I feel really strong. I’m excited to get back to work.' She then added; 'There are no guarantees, but I have been told if I do everything I have to do now I give myself the best chance possible to stay cancer-free for the rest of my life.'
target: Veteran ESPN reporter Shelley Smith is set to return to work six months after announcing she had breast cancer .
  She will make her first appearance on April 30, just before the NFL draft,. interviewing Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota .
  After that she will return for five more rounds of chemotherapy .