Michael Strahan Reveals Daughter Isabella Had a Setback Amid Brain Tumor Battle

Strahan shared new details of his daughter's brain tumor battle, revealing she has started chemotherapy.

Michael Strahan recently shared an emotional update on his daughter's brain tumor battle. On Wednesday, the Good Morning America co-anchor shared that Isabella, 19, has been "fighting through" her chemotherapy treatment, especially after a recent setback resulted in a hospitalization.

"The last three days have been a little rough because she had a fever that kind of comes and goes," Michael told his co-anchors. "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."

The former NFL star added that the side effects Isabella has faced since starting chemotherapy at Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center in Durham, North Carolina, have been "expected" but still difficult.

"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 added.

On the bright side, Michael shared that he and Isabella have appreciated all the support they have received from friends and family as well as strangers. 

"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 told his co-anchors. "So thank you to everybody."

Last month, Isabella and her dad appeared together on Good Morning America in an interview with Robin Roberts to publicly share that she had a malignant brain tumor known as medulloblastoma. 

According to estimates published in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, the type of brain tumor Isabella is battling accounts for about 20% of all childhood brain tumors. About 500 children are diagnosed with medulloblastoma each year.

Isabella revealed that she first began suffering symptoms in early October and underwent surgery to have the mass removed that same month, just one day before her 19th birthday. She has since launched a YouTube series to document her cancer treatment journey, which included six weeks of radiation treatment. 

"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 in their GMA interview. "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."

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