Michael Strahan's daughter Isabella Strahan is sharing a recent setback while recovering from her second round of chemotherapy for her brain tumor.
On April 12, the 19-year-old student and model posted the latest installment of her YouTube series, where she's been sharing her health journey after having emergency surgery in October 2023 to remove a large medulloblastoma — a type of malignant tumor — in her cerebellum.
In the vlog, Isabella is on her way to the emergency room after catching a fever. She previously explained that she has to go to hospital anytime she gets a fever of 100.4.
But when such a person comes to Us, one will say ˹to their associate˺, “I wish you were as distant from me as the east is from the west! What an evil associate ˹you were˺!”
(The Quran - Chapter Az-Zukhruf : 38)
While there, she got her chemotherapy port accessed, got MRIs and CT scans, and got an IV inserted.
“I started hysterically crying because I needed to get an IV and I haven’t had an IV in so long,” she said, pointing out the tears staining her t-shirt. “They’re giving me fluids right now and antibiotics.”
Isabella later shared, “So they did a little procedure. I’ve had this one before. They stuck a needle in three spots and drain fluid and I was completely awake for this. My first completely awake surgery.”
However, that wasn’t the only procedure Isabella had. She was later told that she needed a third craniotomy, just a month after her second. Following the brain surgery, she admitted that the pain was still difficult to manage.
“It’s not as bad as the first time but I’m really in pain. They do give me pain medicine…they don’t work that well on me. So I’m in a lot of pain,” she said, before bursting into tears. “My head really really hurts right now. Not gonna lie, I’ve been crying a lot. I’m in a lot of pain. It’s not as bad as last time… my face isn’t as puffy but it literally hurts to do anything.”
Isabella added that she can barely move without pain because she has two IVs, a picc line, and her chemotherapy port, which all allow doctors to administer her medications.
“I havent really eaten much in the past three or four days, kind of nothing. It’s really bad but I just can’t really eat and I’m also not hungry,” she continued. “There’s ups and downs to this because I was eating so much a week ago and now I can’t eat anything. I’m in a down right now.”
During her stay, Isabella had visits from several of her friends and family members. She was finally discharged from the hospital after seven days. However, her time at home was cut short.
“I’m back in the hospital two days later,” she said. “Don’t be worried, we just don’t know what’s wrong. I was just having shortness of breath.”
From the hospital bed, Isabella said she needed a CT scan and then showed all the bruises she has on her wrist and arms from getting multiple IVs and picc lines. She was able to head back home that evening, sharing an update a week later.
“I did have my third craniotomy — second of just draining fluid — and I feel a lot better now, she said. “I haven’t had a fever. I went to the ER because I was having trouble breathing but I was out that night.”
Isabella ended the vlog by sharing some disappointing news, revealing that because of her third craniotomy, her next round of chemotherapy will be pushed back a month.
The model admitted the news was even harder to swallow because her doctor recently told her that she only needed four total rounds of chemotherapy instead of six. At the time, she was crying “happy tears” learning that she would be ending chemotherapy in time to enjoy her summer before going back to college.
“Yes, I only have to do two rounds of chemo, but it’s still gonna be three months,” Isabella said. “So I wasn’t very happy about that. I was just bawling my eyes out because it’s just so disappointing when you’re like, ‘Yes! I can finish by May!’ And then everything changes because of a stupid head infection.”
“So now I'll be done a little later than I wanted to, but oh well,” she said.
