Michael Strahan, a Good Morning America host and former NFL star, revealed on Thursday’s broadcast that his
teenage daughter had recently been diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a rare type of brain cancer.
“I’m very proud of her and she’s always been strong and this is something that is so personal that I didn’t know if it
would be something that she’d want to share,” he said.
But Isabella Strahan, a 19-year-old University of Southern California student, chose to share her own tale with
GMA’s Robin Roberts.
Isabella stated that in September, she began feeling severe migraines, nausea, and the inability to walk straight. At
first, she assumed she had vertigo. But in late October, she started vomiting blood. She texted her twin sister Sophia,
who then told the rest of the family. Michael Strahan then brought her to the doctor.
Isabella’s MRI revealed a rapidly developing, four-centimeter brain tumor that was larger than a golf ball. The next
day, she underwent emergency surgery to remove the tumor, according to Roberts.
But Isabella recently rang the bell, a custom for cancer patients who have finished their radiation or chemotherapy
treatment. Isabella underwent 30 radiation sessions and will begin chemotherapy at Duke University in February,
she added.
Isabella spent a month in rehabilitation and had to relearn to walk. She now claims to be feeling better.
“I’m very excited for this whole process to wrap, but you just have to keep living every day, I think, through the whole
thing,” she went on to say.
She has created a YouTube channel to capture her trip with vlogs, or video blogs. Proceeds from the content will
benefit Duke’s Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center.
“It’s been like two months of keeping it quiet, which is definitely difficult,” she remarked.
She claimed that she would like to have “a voice and be a person people who maybe are going through chemotherapy
or radiation can look at and find something interesting about their day.”
Michael Strahan stated that the event has transformed his view on his own life and underlined the value of support.
