Father of four Michael Strahan has been supporting his daughter Isabella since the start of a serious health scare that traces back to last year. Isabella was diagnosed with brain cancer and she has been sharing updates through the difficult treatment journey, most recently revealing that she was hospitalized after her first chemotherapy treatment.
Strahan first discussed Isabella’s diagnosis on Good Morning America back on January 11. The official diagnosis is medulloblastoma, a pediatric brain tumor that manifests in the cerebellum, which is located at the base of the skull and accounts for coordination.
Isabella Strahan gives updates on her chemo treatment, which drove her to be hospitalized
In the midst of her ongoing treatment, 19-year-old Isabella has created videos for social media documenting her experience. One of her latest YouTube videos reveals that Isabella was hospitalized after experiencing a high fever.
“I’ve just been getting a lot of fevers. If you get a fever of 100.4, you have to come in,” she explained. She underwent her first blood transfusion, had her chemo port cleaned, and had an MRI done of her eyes; in between treatments, she passed the time with bingo and mobile games.
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But uncertainty has been a theme, as Isabella ended up hospitalized just hours later.
“I catfished everyone,” she went on. “We left the hospital after three or four days and now we’re back less than 12 hours later because I have a fever again,” she shared. “I got a fever of 102 and had to come back in. So, we’re trying to figure out what’s wrong.” She added, “This is the worst fever I think I’ve had. I don’t feel as horrible as I did the first time…I have a really bad headache so I thought nothing of it and now we’re in the ER.”
Isabella and her family try to maintain optimism through the harrowing circumstances
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Isabella has become very familiar with symptoms such as these, as they are what eventually tipped her and her family off that something was amiss. “I definitely noticed headaches, nausea, couldn’t walk straight,” she shared of her experience last autumn on Good Morning America, leading up to her diagnosis. By October 25, her condition deteriorated so badly, she woke up “throwing up blood.”
She puts up a positive front in her viral content, giving updates like “I have my cute gown on. Trying to look fashionable!” When asked how she feels, she answers with candor, “I don’t feel great. I don’t feel horrible. I’ve felt worse but I don’t feel good. I feel like I can barely walk now.” In her latest video update, she revealed she was off to a procedure meant to drain fluid from the back of her skull.
While worrying for his daughter, Strahan has also voiced his awe at her attitude. “I’m very proud of her and she’s always been strong and this is something that is so personal that I didn’t know if it would be something that she’d want to share,” he said. He went on to reason, “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. So thank you to everybody.”
