At the age of 33, the beautiful, strong and amazing Na'Diah "Dee Dee" Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer after an excisional biopsy. With no family history of breast cancer, she was shocked.
At the time of her diagnosis (March 2016), she was training for a marathon and ran the 2nd half marathon of the year with a personal record time only 6 days before her diagnosis. Can we say bad*ss!?
She recovered quickly and scheduled her permanent implant placement procedure for a few months later but her breast surgeon encouraged a consultation with radiation oncology and they recommended radiation treatment 20 min a day, 5 days a week for 5 weeks. During the treatment planning visit, all the risks were carefully outlined and then heard the word “infertility”. She was devastated.
Na'Diah knew she could live a happy life after breast cancer but wasn’t ready to give up on having children. With medication assistance from LIVESTRONG Fertility, she completed egg harvesting and freezing, only harvesting one egg. She went on to complete five weeks of radiation during her daily lunch break while exercising regularly.
Then on March 31, 2017, she finally received permanent breast implants and 3D nipple tattoos in October 2017. Na'Diah has been living life to the fullest. She is an advocate for all women battling cancer, reminding them breast cancer does not discrimiate, and wanting to portray the reality and unknown obstacles of treatment. Na'Diah has been featured in a national Ulta Beauty Campaign, is a Tigerlily ANGEL Advocate (watch her video here), a Baddie Ambassador for For the Breast of Us and recently joined us as Brand Ambassador for Fighting Pretty!
After a failed egg harvesting cycle before starting breast cancer treatment, Na'Diah was forced to make the hardest decision of her life…postpone the start of treatment or except the possibility of never birthing children. Every day since then she struggled to come to peace with her decision until she saw those two pink lines. On February 10, 2023, Na'Diah gave birth to a baby boy, Grayson, who is her miracle, her reason, and the love she's been waiting 39 years to experience.
Na'Diah has said, her journey through pregnancy has been challenging yet amazing. Finding out she was going to be a mom pushed her to become the best version of herself and learned to surrender and just be. It's still hard, but loving unconditionally is an intentional and continuous practice, and she knows she deserves the same grace she extends to others. It’s ok not to have all the answers.
Na'Diah says, "My journey is my testimony and my testimony is my ministry …the message 'God is good!'"