Michael Strahan has given a heartbreaking update about his daughter‘s current health situation amid the 20-year-old’s cancer battle.
The 52-year-old Good Morning America host confronted one of the most challenging and heart-wrenching experiences a parent can endure late last year when his daughter, Isabella Strahan, was diagnosed with cancer.
In October 2023, Michael announced his temporary departure from hosting Good Morning America, citing “personal family matters” as the reason. It was only recently that the public learned that he spent that time supporting Isabella as she faced the early stages of her cancer journey.
Isabella goes public with her battle
Isabella, just 18 at the time, received a diagnosis of a brain tumor after experiencing severe headaches, nausea, and vomiting. She underwent emergency surgery to remove the malignant mass behind her brain a day before turning 19 on October 27, 2023.
Although she initially kept her battle private, Isabella later chose to share her journey on social media. She posted a video of her journey on YouTube, which included pictures from the hospital, with her father by her bedside. During her recovery, her twin sister, Sophia, provided additional support as Isabella relearned how to walk and underwent radiation therapy.
Painful chemotherapy
Just days ago, Isabella detailed her experiences with chemotherapy in a candid vlog on her YouTube channel.
In the video titled “Vlog 8: Recovering from Chemo at home,” the 20-year-old bravely opened up about the intense physical pain she’s enduring during her treatment journey.
Describing her ordeal, Isabella expressed the agony she felt, likening it to a “heart attack” while trying to alleviate her headache with an ice pack on her newly shaved head. “Everything hurts,” she confessed, saying that she was feeling the strain on her eyes, mouth, and jaw.
Michael Strahan gives an update
Then, yesterday, Michael said while hosting Good Morning America that: “The last three days have been a little rough because she [Isabella] had a fever that kind of comes and goes.”
He continued: “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.”
Michael also commented on how Isabella, whose chemotherapy treatment began at Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center in Durham, North Carolina, has experienced “expected” side effects. Though, he did admit that the process has still been 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 told his fellow hosts.
Fortunately, though, Michael shared that the support their family has received from other family members and friends, as well as fans online, has helped them during this process.
“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,’” he said. “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. So thank you to everybody.”
