Michael Strahan reveals daughter Isabella, 19, had a ‘rough’ setback amid brain cancer battle
Michael Strahan revealed his 19-year-old daughter Isabella has faced a setback as she fights brain cancer.
The 52-year-old “Good Morning America” anchor told his co-hosts on Wednesday, “The last three days have been a little rough because she [Isabella] had a fever that kind of comes and goes.”
“I had to take her to the hospital and thought she’d come home a few hours later. …It’s been three days, but hopefully she’ll be home today,” he revealed.
The father-daughter duo appeared on “GMA” in January to reveal that Isabella was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor known as a medulloblastoma — a fast-growing cancerous brain tumor that develops in the cerebellum, the back of the brain where movement and coordination are controlled.
Last month, she got to ring the bell after her last radiation treatment.
On Wednesday, Michael continued that Isabella, who has started chemotherapy at Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center in Durham, North Carolina, has experienced “expected” side effects, but admitted the process has still been difficult.
“It is tough to see her go through it, but I know she’s a tough young lady and she’s going to make it through it,” the father of four added.
Isabella, whose fraternal twin sister, Sophia, attends Duke University, is documenting her chemo journey on YouTube.
In a video uploaded Wednesday, she told viewers that her first round of chemo was “one of the worst things I’ve done ever in my entire life.”
“Oh my God,” she said. “I feel like people made it look so much easier.”
“The first week in the hospital was horrible. It actually wasn’t horrible until it got horrible,” she explained.
“It just felt weird getting chemo. I don’t know, you don’t really think you’re gonna get poison put through your body.”
The student and model was home recovering from treatment in the vlog, but continued, “The first week in the hospital was horrible. It actually wasn’t horrible until it got horrible. It just felt weird getting chemo. I don’t know, you don’t really think you’re gonna get poison put through your body.”
Michael shared on “GMA” that the support their family has received from their personal circle, as well as fans online, has helped them during this difficult time.
“I think, for her, so many people have reached out and said, ‘I’m glad you’re doing this,’ ‘Thank you for doing this,’ ‘This has really helped us,'” he said.
“All that support that she is getting from people she doesn’t know, on top of people that she does know, has kept her in a very positive space,” he went on.
“So thank you to everybody.”
