Michael Strahan's daughter Isabella Strahan is getting some good news after completing her second round of chemotherapy for her brain tumor.
On April 10, 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.
Isabella begins her vlog crying, sharing the emotional update she received from her doctor.
Were it not that people might ˹be tempted to˺ become one community ˹of disbelievers˺, We would have supplied the homes of ˹only˺ those who disbelieve in the Most Compassionate with silver roofs and ˹silver˺ stairways to ascend,
(The Quran - Chapter Az-Zukhruf : 33)
“These are happy tears,” she insisted. “My doctor just called and told me I only have to do two more rounds of chemo and I’m so happy. So I’ll be done in May and I can kind of try to have a summer to feel better.”
Isabella said she originally needed six rounds of chemotherapy, which she’d complete at the end of July and immediately go back to school at USC. Now, she’s excited because she’ll get to enjoy her summer.
“I’m halfway there! I’m halfway done with chemo and it just makes me really happy,” she continued. “I’ve been praying that I would only have to do four rounds and now… yay! Now, I can’t even be a little bit sad because I can do it. I’ve done it, I just have to repeat everything I’ve just done. I’m just super happy. Today’s a great day.”
After getting the good news, Isabella spent the day doing physical therapy, teasing that all the exercises are simple but so hard for her to do since going through chemo. She also had a call with her life coach, telling her viewers that “You should always talk to someone. It helps.”
In the vlog, Isabella was all smiles laying on the couch when she got a surprise visit from her twin sister Sophia, bursting into tears when she saw her walk in the door.
“Oh my gosh! I’m getting so many surprises! This is why you wouldn’t answer my calls,” Isabella told her sister as they hugged and said they love each other. “Today just got so much better. A lot of happy tears today.”
Isabella has been home in New York recovering from her second round of chemotherapy. In her past vlogs, the model documented her treatment while at the Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center in Durham, North Carolina.
While there she had Sophia, who is a freshman at Duke University, by her side. The video showed Isabella preparing for one of her chemotherapy drugs to be administered, sitting in her hospital room with her hands and feet submerged in buckets of ice.
“We’re icing my feet. It helps prevent neuropathy because Vincristine, one of the chemo drugs I get, that’s a side effect,” she explained. “We’ve got the chemo bags of ice. So I’m gonna put my hands in here for awhile.”
Some types of chemotherapy drugs can cause peripheral neuropathy, which is a set of symptoms caused by damage to nerves that control the sensations and movements of our arms, legs, hands, and feet, according to the American Cancer Society. Cold therapy, applying ice to the hands and feet, is often done to help patients reduce peripheral neuropathy.
While showing a clip of Isabella’s bare feet and hands in buckets of ice, Sophia teased, “This is what the world wants to see!”
