Recently, Isabella Strahan—the daughter of Michael Strahan—shared a devastating update regarding her fight against brain cancer.
The 20-year-old uploaded an honest vlog to her YouTube page in which she discussed her chemotherapy journey.
This 20-year-old courageously shared in her “Vlog 8: Recovering from Chemo at home” video the excruciating physical discomfort she’s been through because of her chemotherapy treatment.
When asked to describe her experience, Isabella compared the pain she was in to a “heart attack” and used an ice pack on her freshly shaved head to ease her headache. She apologized, stating, “Everything hurts,” referring to the pain in her jaw, eyes, and lips caused by the tension.
The strain is on my eyes. Looking sideways was painful. According to her, it’s as if every tooth in her mouth was extracted and then never replaced medically; it’s like she had a massive root canal. “Whenever I gulp water, it aches both my jaw and the base of my tongue.”
Because chemotherapy is so physically painful for her, she has expressed a preference for radiation therapy or brain surgery instead.
“This one is simply the most extensive voyage. The most difficult part, Isabella said, as she voiced her worries regarding treatment-related problems. “I feel” is how she described the overwhelming anxiety she’s been experiencing due to her fear of the unknown. I feel a surge of panic. It pains me deeply. I might be having a heart attack if that happens. Also, I was worried that my eyes would dry up from straining too much. On the other hand, what if my teeth decay and eventually fall out? “I am not sure.”
Isabella expressed her gratitude for being able to sleep in her own bed again after all the difficulties. Despite her sense of safety at the hospital, she was glad to be back in her own home.
Isabella also included clips from her time in the hospital and special times she had with her dad and twin sister Sophia Strahan in the video blog.
Isabella’s update follows an emotional Good Morning America broadcast in which she and her father publicly revealed her illness. Isabella described the symptoms that preceded her diagnosis, which included nausea and headaches. She didn’t pay much attention to them until the terrifying moment she woke up vomiting blood.
Isabella was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma, a cancerous brain tumor, after a battery of testing. Michael Strahan was away from GMA for more than three weeks after her diagnosis for “personal family matters”—though he refrained from disclosing details to the public at the time.
Isabella has shown remarkable strength in the face of adversity; she finished her last radiation treatment in January, following which she frozen her eggs in reaction to her diagnosis. During this difficult time, our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family.