Photo: Jc Olivera
'Good Morning America' host and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan revealed that his daughter, Isabella, suffered a recent setback in her brain cancer battle.
“The last three days have been a little rough because she had a fever that kind of comes and goes,” Strahan told his 'GMA' co-anchors, Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos Wednesday (February 21) morning. “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.”
Strahan, 52, described Isabella, 20, as a "tough young lady" amid her recent battle, which she also addressed in a YouTube vlog posted on her account Wednesday chronicling her first round of chemotherapy.
“My first round of chemo experience was one of the worst things I’ve done ever in my entire life. Oh my God,” Isabella said while opening Valentine’s Day gifts and letters from patients at the MSK Cancer Center. “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. It just felt weird getting chemo. I don’t know, you don’t really think you’re gonna get poison put through your body.”
Isabella, a University of Southern California freshman, said she was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a cancerous, fast-growing tumor that develops in the cerebellum -- which controls movement and coordination -- while appearing alongside her father in an emotional interview for 'GMA' with Roberts, who had previously been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and myelodysplastic syndrome *MDS) in 2012.
“Today my daughter @IsabellaStrahan joined @RobinRoberts and myself for an interview about the journey she has been going through on @GMA,” Michael Strahan wrote in an Instagram caption. “I love you Isabella and I’m always by your side. To all sending love, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!”
Isabella said she experienced dizziness before the diagnosis and undergoing brain surgery in October, followed by rehabilitation and six weeks of radiation treatment. The 19-year-old said she went “two months of keeping it quiet, which has been difficult," but doesn't want to "hide" her journey, which will include chemotherapy at Duke University, where Sophia attends college, beginning in February.
“I’m feeling good, not too bad. I’m very excited for this whole process to wrap but you just have to keep living every day through the whole thing,” she said.
Isabella, who has worked as a model and recently launched a campaign with Sephora, said she launched her YouTube series to document her battle with medulloblastoma in partnership with Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center.
“With my platform, I hope to just kind of be a voice and be a person who people who maybe are going through something similar, going through chemotherapy or radiation, can look at and just hear and just watch, or find something interesting about their day,” she said. “I’m just excited for that.”
“I know she’s going through it, but I know that we’re never given more than we can handle,” Michael added. “She is going to crush this.”
“I know this has been tough, but you keep living Isabella,” he added. “We love you. We’re here for you and you got this.”
Jason Whitlock Says the 'Woke' Media Could Eventually Destroy Caitlin Clark
Jason Smith: Dak Prescott Wanting $60 Million a Year Should Make Everyone Laugh
Rob Parker: Cowboys Should Demand that Dak Prescott Take a Pay Cut
Doug Gottlieb: Disaster of the NBA All-Star Game Damages LeBron's Legacy
Suspect in Chiefs Parade Shooting Had GoFundMe Page
Jason Whitlock: NBA All-Star Game Confirmed 'Basketball is Dead' in America
NFL Legend Revealed Russell Wilson's Next Team
Kansas City Chiefs Parade Shooter Told Police He Was 'Just Being Stupid'
Rob Parker Says a LeBron 'Farewell Tour' Would Turn Into a 'Good Riddance' Trolling
Rob Parker Says Adam Silver is 'By Far the Worst Commissioner in Sports'