TV personality Michael Strahan’s 19-year-old daughter Isabella just announced she recently underwent brain surgery to remove a tumor.
Isabella, who is currently a college student, made the announcement during an appearance on Good Morning America on Thursday, per People.
Her father is a GMA co-host.
The teen said that her condition was discovered in late October 2023. Isabella said she had the emergency surgery at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles to remove a four-inch mass on October 27, just one day before her 19th birthday. She also said she’ll undergo chemotherapy at Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center in North Carolina next month.
“I’m feeling good. Not too bad,” Isabella told GMA anchor Robin Roberts. “[Chemo is] my next step. I’m ready for it to start and be one day closer to being over. …. I’m very excited for this whole process to wrap. But you just have to keep living every day, I think, through the whole thing.”
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Michael, a former New York Giants defensive end, was also there to share his thoughts during the interview.
“I literally think that, in a lot of ways, I’m the luckiest man in the world, because I’ve got an amazing daughter,” Michael said. “I know she’s going through it, but I know that we’re never given more than we can handle and that she is going to crush this.”
The former NFL star has four total children, including Tanita, 32, and Michael Jr., 29, with his first wife Wanda Hutchins; and Isabella and her twin sister Sophia, with his second wife, Jean Muggli.
Isabella went into detail about how the tumor was discovered. “I didn’t notice anything was off ’til probably like October 1,” she told Roberts. “That’s when I definitely noticed headaches, nausea, couldn’t walk straight.”
The college student brushed off the symptoms until they became more severe. She was throwing up blood by the end of the month, which finally prompted her to see a medical professional.
“That was when we decided, ‘You need to really go get a thorough checkup.’ And thank goodness for the doctor,” Michael chimed in. “I feel like this doctor saved her life because she was thorough enough to say, ‘Let’s do the full checkup.'”
“It didn’t feel real,” the former Giants player continued. “I don’t really remember much. I just remember trying to figure out how to get to [Los Angeles] ASAP.”
Michael said even though medulloblastoma is common, that didn’t help assuage his fears. “It’s still scary because it’s still so much to go through,” he said. “And the hardest thing to get over is to think that she has to go through this herself.”
Isabella already completed six weeks of radiation. She plans to document the experience as part of a new YouTube series.
“It’s been like, two months of keeping it quiet, which is definitely difficult. I don’t wanna hide it anymore ’cause it’s hard to always keep in,” Isabella told Roberts. “I hope to just kind of be a voice, and be [someone] who maybe [those who] are going through chemotherapy or radiation can look at.”
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The teen also said she has a different view of life following the cancer diagnosis.
“Perspective is a big thing,” she said. “I’m grateful. I am grateful just to walk or see friends or do something, ’cause when you can’t do something, it really impacts you.”
Michael agreed. “You learn that you’re probably not as strong as you thought you were when you have to really think about the real things, and I realized that I need support from everybody,” he said.
“You think, ‘I’m the athlete, the tough guy, you know, I can come and handle, I’m the father in the family.’ It is not about any of that. It doesn’t matter. And it’s really made me change my perspective on so many things in my life.”