Michael Strahan’s daughter, Isabella Strahan, is documenting her battle with medulloblastoma through a series of vlogs on YouTube.
In a first vlog titled, “How It Started”, Isabella shared that she began experiencing symptoms of the cancerous tumor during her freshman year at the University of Southern California.
After visiting Cedars-Sinai for an MRI, doctors discovered a fast-growing tumor in the back of her brain, measuring 4 centimeters. Soon after, the 19-year-old underwent emergency surgery in October to remove the brain tumor.
“August I felt perfectly normal. The end of September, I had headaches, I was dizzy,” she said. “The biggest one is I couldn’t walk in a straight line. That’s why I thought I had vertigo. And then I would also wake up very nauseous and have to throw up most days.”
In her second vlog, Isabella candidly discussed the emotional process of freezing her eggs before starting treatment. This step became necessary due to the potential impact of chemotherapy and radiation on fertility.
“Since chemo and radiation and everything can affect fertility, my first step was egg freezing. That was not fun for me at all. I am not a big needle person so this whole experience has been.. I’ve gotten used to my blood and IV but shots, that was rough.”
Despite the challenges, Isabella maintains a positive outlook, expressing gratitude for each day that brings her closer to recovery.
“I just hope anyone who sees this knows that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that things will get better because every day is another day closer to getting better and closer to feeling better,” Isabella said. “Progress takes a lot of time… try to see the positive things.”
Isabella will begin chemotherapy at Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center in Durham, North Carolina next month. Additionally, she will be donating all financial proceeds from her vlogs to The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University.
Isabella and her twin sister, Sophia Strahan, are the youngest ofMichael Strahan’s four kids. He has two older children, Tanita and Michael Jr., with his first wife Wanda Hutchins, and the twins with his second wife, Jean Muggli.