Isabella, 19, Daughter of Michael Strahan, Starts Physical Therapy After Initial Round of Chemotherapy for Brain Tumor: ‘It Could Be Worse’

Michael Strahan’s daughter Isabella gave an update in her recovery process in a new YouTube video, detailing ‘a day in’ her life following her first round of chemotherapy.

As she continues to heal after undergoing emergency surgery to remove a golfball-sized mass in her brain just four months ago, the college student, 19, revealed she recently began physical therapy. 

In her latest vlog, the model, who began taking classes at USC last fall, spoke about her health journey as she opened Valentine’s Day gifts, including friendship bracelets from Little Words Project and handwritten letters from The Scarlett Fund. 

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‘I’ve been sleeping a lot. Two days ago I didn’t leave my room. I had a fever,’ she said in the video. ‘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.’ 

Michael Strahan’s daughter Isabella gave an update in her recovery process in a new YouTube video, detailing ‘a day in’ her life following her first round of chemotherapy

Isabella went on to note that she has ‘two doctors appointments per week to get’ her blood drawn, which she insisted she doesn’t mind doing anymore. 

‘Things could be worse…such as my jaw pain,’ she admitted. 

As most of her friends are away at college and she navigates the side effects of chemotherapy, Isabella pointed out that her days are pretty monotonous. 

Still, she keeps up a routine that involves going on walks, doing physical therapy and stretching. 

‘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.’ 

Her video comes just one day after her father, Michael, revealed that his teenager had a ‘rough’ setback amid her ongoing brain cancer battle. 

During an episode of GMA on Wednesday morning, he shared, ‘She’s fighting through it but the last three days have been a little rough because she had a fever so I had to take her to the hospital. 

‘We thought she’d be home a few hours later, but it’s been three days. But hopefully she’ll be home today.’ 

Isabella is the daughter of two-time Emmy Award winner and former NFL football player Michael Strahan (L)

As she continues to heal after undergoing emergency surgery to remove a golfball-sized mass in her brain in October, the 19-year-old college student revealed she has begun physical therapy

In her latest vlog, the model, who began taking classes at USC last fall, spoke about her health journey as she opened Valentine’s Day gifts, including friendship bracelets from Little Words Project and handwritten letters from The Scarlett Fund

Michael added that it was ‘tough’ to see his daughter ‘go through this,’ but that he ‘knows she’s going to get through it’ because she’s ‘a tough young lady.’ 

Ever since she spoke out about her diagnosis on the morning show, Isabella has been documenting her horrific journey on her YouTube account, where she has racked up more than 21,000 subscribers.

Her father added of her decision to be so open about it online, ‘She’s [doing it] in the hopes that other people with the same diagnosis will feel supported and know they are not alone.’

In a video shared last week, Isabella opened up about some of the terrible symptoms she has endured as a result of her chemotherapy.

At the time, she said ‘everything’ hurt and it felt like she was ‘having a heart attack.’

‘My eyes are strained, they hurt to look to the sides. My whole mouth feels like I got one giant root canal,’ she continued.

‘Every single tooth, just ripped out and not even surgically put back in. My jaw hurts, the bottom of my tongue hurts. It hurts when I gulp water.’

Her video comes just one day after her father, Michael, revealed that his teenager had a ‘rough’ setback amid her ongoing brain cancer battle 

During an episode of GMA on Wednesday morning, he shared, ‘She’s fighting through it but the last three days have been a little rough because she had a fever so I had to take her to the hospital 

Isabella explained on GMA in January that she started suffering from ‘excruciating headaches’ during her freshman year in college. 

‘I noticed something was off since probably September,’ she shared. ‘Like October 1, that’s when I definitely noticed headaches, nausea, [I] couldn’t walk straight.’ 

Her father added of her decision to be so open about it online, ‘She’s [doing it] in the hopes that other people with the same diagnosis will feel supported and know they are not alone’

Initially, Isabella said she mistook her symptoms for vertigo. Michael confessed that when his daughter shared her symptoms with him, he never considered that they might be indications that she was battling cancer, particularly because she was just 18 and was so ‘young, strong and healthy.’

However, on October 25, Isabella said her condition took a severe decline, with the teenager revealing that she began throwing up blood soon after waking up.

Joking that she thought, ‘This probably isn’t good,’ Isabella revealed that she texted her sister to tell her what was going on – and she then ‘notified the whole family.’

It was at that point that Michael said the family decided Isabella ‘really needed to go get a thorough check-up’ with a doctor, adding: ‘Thank goodness for the doctor… I feel like the doctor saved her life.’

Isabella said the doctor ‘did an EKG and other stuff,’ before sending her to another facility in order to get an MRI.

In a video shared last week, Isabella opened up about some of the terrible symptoms she had endured as a result of her chemotherapy

At the time, she said ‘everything’ hurt and it felt like she was ‘having a heart attack.’ She added, ‘My eyes are strained. My whole mouth feels like I got one giant root canal’

‘So I went to take [the MRI] somewhere else and then she called me and she said, “You need to head to Cedars-Sinai right now, I’m going to meet you there,”‘ recalled the teen, adding that the doctor gave her no other information about her diagnosis at the time.

Once at the hospital, Isabella was told that she had developed a ‘fast-growing four centimeter tumor in the back of her brain’ that required emergency surgery.

According to Michael, he was told about his daughter’s brain tumor before she was, explaining that he ‘doesn’t remember much’ about the moment he learned of her diagnosis, but that he just ‘remembers trying to figure out how to get to Los Angeles ASAP.’

Isabella was ultimately diagnosed with medulloblastoma, which – according to GMA – accounts for 20 per cent of all childhood brain tumors and is typically found in about 500 children each year, most commonly those between the ages of five and nine.

On October 27, one day before her 19th birthday, Isabella underwent emergency surgery to remove the tumor, with Michael stating that doctors wanted to ‘get it out as soon as possible.’

Isabella explained on GMA in January that she started suffering from ‘excruciating headaches’ during her freshman year in college 

Once at the hospital, Isabella was told that she had developed a ‘fast-growing four centimeter tumor in the back of her brain’ that required emergency surgery 

Following the surgery, Isabella (seen with her dad and sister) underwent several rounds of proton radiation therapy, which she completed just one day before her GMA appearance

‘It sent a signal of how serious it was when they said, “Hey, you shouldn’t risk trying to put her on a plane to get her to the East Coast or another doctor. We know what it is and we should get it out as soon as possible,”‘ he recalled of his conversation with doctors.

Thankfully, doctors told the family that, although serious, they were ‘confident’ that they could treat Isabella’s cancer.

The teenager faced an uphill battle in the wake of the surgery, during which she underwent a ‘grueling month of rehab,’ which included re-learning how to walk.

Following the surgery, Isabella underwent several rounds of proton radiation therapy, which she completed just one day before she revealed her diagnosis to the world.

‘I got to ring the bell [signifying the end of treatment] yesterday,’ she shared with a smile.

‘It was great, it was very exciting because it’s been a long 30 sessions [over] six weeks.

‘I’m feeling good, not too bad. I’m very excited for this whole process to wrap but you just have to keep living every day through the whole thing.’