Michael Strahan’s daughter, Isabella, is fighting brain cancer. They shared this sad news in an interview on Good Morning America with Robin Roberts. Isabella, who is 19 years old, will begin treatment next month.
She found out about her diagnosis in October 2023 when she was in her first year of college at the University of Southern California. Isabella had been having headaches for a month. She thought it was just vertigo at first. But when she started throwing up blood in late October, she knew something was really wrong.
Isabella told Robin Roberts, “I didn’t notice anything was off till probably like Oct. 1. That’s when I definitely noticed headaches, nausea, couldn’t walk straight.” She texted her sister when things got worse, and the whole family got involved.
Michael Strahan said, “That was when we decided, ‘You need to really go get a thorough checkup.’ And thank goodness for the doctor. I feel like this doctor saved her life because she was thorough enough to say, ‘Let’s do the full checkup.’” Isabella is staying positive and starting her treatment soon.
After doing many tests and scans, Isabella was told to go to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. It was only when she got to the hospital that doctors found a fast-growing tumor in the back of her brain, about the size of a golf ball.
Her dad, who has four kids, said, “I don’t really remember much. I just remember trying to figure out how to get to LA ASAP. And it just doesn’t feel real. It just didn’t feel real.”
Isabella had surgery and then went through many sessions of radiation treatment, followed by a month of rehab.
She shared, “I got to ring the bell yesterday. It was great. It was very exciting because it’s been a long 30 sessions, six weeks.”
Isabella had kept her health journey private for about two months, but now she feels it’s time to speak out. She wants to be a voice for those going through chemotherapy or radiation.
Her dad, Michael, expressed, “I literally think that in a lot of ways, I’m the luckiest man in the world because I’ve got an amazing daughter. I know she’s going through it, but I know that we’re never given more than we can handle and that she is going to crush this.”