Michael Strahan says daughter is 'fighting through' chemotherapy, hospitalization after brain tumor diagnosis
Michael Strahan shared new details of his daughter's brain tumor battle, revealing she has started chemotherapy.
The "Good Morning America" co-anchor said Wednesday that his daughter, Isabella Strahan, is "fighting through" her chemotherapy treatment and a recent setback that included a hospitalization.
"The last three days have been a little rough because she had a fever that kind of comes and goes," Michael Strahan said on "GMA." "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 added that the side effects Isabella Strahan has faced since starting chemotherapy have been "expected" but still 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," he said of his daughter, one of his four children.
Isabella Strahan, 19, was diagnosed with a type of malignant brain tumor known as medulloblastoma in late October, nearly one month after she said she began experiencing headaches while beginning her freshman year at the University of Southern California.
Shortly after her diagnosis, Isabella Strahan underwent emergency surgery to remove the mass followed by one month of rehabilitation and several rounds of radiation treatment.
She began chemotherapy this month at Duke University Hospital, a process she is documenting on her YouTube channel.
Isabella Strahan shared videos on YouTube from her hospital room and her home, saying she has experienced vision changes and pain, especially in her mouth, noting that it felt like she had undergone wisdom teeth removal.
The type of brain tumor Isabella Strahan is battling, medulloblastoma, accounts for about 20% of all childhood brain tumors, according to estimates published in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. About 500 children are diagnosed with medulloblastoma each year.
Michael Strahan said that both he and Isabella have appreciated all the support they have received, both from friends and family as well as strangers. The pair shared Isabella Strahan's diagnosis publicly in an interview with Robin Roberts that aired in January on "GMA."
"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,' and 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," Michael Strahan said. "So thank you to everybody."
