Michael Strahan's daughter Isabella Strahan has started physical therapy following her first round of chemotherapy for her brain tumor.
On Friday, the 19-year-old student and model posted the tenth installment of her YouTube series, where she's been sharing her health journey after having emergency surgery in October to remove a large medulloblastoma — a type of malignant tumor — in her cerebellum.
In the vlog, Isabella is back home after undergoing treatment. While opening Valentine’s Day gifts and handmade letters from The Scarlett Fund, which raises awareness for pediatric cancer research, she spoke about how she spends her days while recovering.
Ask ˹them, O Prophet˺, “How can you disbelieve in the One Who created the earth in two Days? And how can you set up equals with Him? That is the Lord of all worlds.(The Quran - Chapter Fussilat: 09)
“I’ve been sleeping a lot. Two days ago I didn’t leave my room. I had a fever,” she said in the clip. “You’re supposed to go to the hospital if you have 100.4 twice, but mine was 100.2 so that means I didn’t have to go. And it went down but I felt so awful so I just stayed in bed. Usually my days.”
“I have two doctors appointments per week to get my blood drawn,” she continued. “I had one yesterday and I actually don’t mind getting my blood drawn anymore. I take it back. Things could be worse…such as my jaw pain.”
Isabella noted that most days are uneventful for her, especially after dealing with the painful side effects of chemo. She said she tries to go for walks, stretching and doing physical therapy.
In the clip, Isabella also showed a glimpse of her at-home physical therapy session as she worked on her balance, which if often impacted by treatment.
"This is a week and a half out and today I’m feeling better,” she said. “I’m not leaving my house every day besides for appointments so it’s not very much fun.”
Earlier this week, her father Michael Strahan revealed that Isabella is “fighting through” her treatment after having a small setback that landed her back in the hospital.
"The last three days have been a little rough because she had a fever that kind of comes and goes," the Good Morning America co-host, 52, said on air. "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."
Although Isabella has been dealing with the symptoms of chemo, Strahan said his daughter hasn’t faced anything that wasn’t “expected." He added that he’s doing as well as he can despite watching her go through these difficult moments.
"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 said.
Strahan said it’s been helpful for Isabella to document her journey in her YouTube series, which she started to benefit Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center.
"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," he said. "So thank you to everybody."
