“It’s been challenging and very hard, but I know I’ll get through it,” the 19-year-old said in the first part of her YouTube vlog.
Michael Strahan’s daughter Isabella Strahan is trying to keep a positive mindset as she continues her recovery from having a brain tumor removed.
In her first YouTube vlog post, “How It Started,” the 19-year-old opened up about how she was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a common malignant tumor that forms in the cerebellum, the part of the brain located at the base of the skull.
Isabella, a model and student, said her health battle was challenging and she didn’t feel like herself after the treatment, but her perspective eventually changed after the experience.
“I just had a Sephora ad that I shot in May 2023 come out. So it’s super exciting, but I remember being so excited to go to the store and take a selfie with him, and I can’t do that now because no I really don’t I feel like me or that person in the ad,” she admitted.
“These last two months have been difficult,” she continued. “It was challenging and very difficult, but I know I will endure it. I know that time will heal and things will go back to the way they were – I can’t say it’s normal because there’s no normal in my life now, but things will go back to calmer.”
Michael Strahan’s daughter Isabella, 19, reveals brain tumor diagnosis: ‘I just have to keep living each day’
Isabella explained that she began to feel the first symptoms of a brain tumor in September 2023 while she was in her first year of studies at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
“In August I felt perfectly normal. At the end of September, I had headaches, I was dizzy,” she said. “The biggest one is that I couldn’t walk straight. That’s why I thought I was dizzy. And then I would also wake up very nauseous and have to throw up most of the day.”
Michael Strahan’s daughter Isabella.
Isabella Strahan/Youtube
“It just kind of progressed, got worse and worse,” she added. “I was afraid to wake up because I knew I was going to throw up, and it just wasn’t fun.”
Isabella ended up visiting Cedars-Sinai for a full MRI. While there, doctors discovered she had developed a fast-growing tumor in the back of her brain. It was 4cm – bigger than a golf ball – and the teenager would need emergency surgery to remove it.
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Michael Strahan and daughter Isabella.
Michael Strahan/instagram
What is medulloblastoma? Everything you need to know about Michael Strahan’s daughter Isabella’s diagnosis
The student admitted that she doesn’t remember everything about her hospitalization, relying on her family and friends to fill in the gaps in her experience. In the video, Isabella was surrounded by her loved ones while she was recovering from the operation, she even celebrated her 19th birthday in the hospital.
Isabella — who will begin chemotherapy next month at Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center in Durham, North Carolina — thanked her loved ones for their support and kindness as she recovered, sharing how her perspective has changed and the “little things” don’t really matter in life.
“I just hope that everyone 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,” she said. “Progress takes a lot of time… try to see the positives.”
Isabella is one of Strahan’s four children. The former NFL star has two older children – Tanita (32) and Michael Jr. (29) – with his first wife Wanda Hutchins, before welcoming Isabella and her twin sister Sophia with his second wife Jean Muggli.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education