Originally published on E! Online
Isabella Strahan feels happier and healthier on her road to recovery from brain cancer.
After announcing she was cancer-free last month, Michael Strahan’s daughter is now moving on to her next chapter, including a new home and returning to college at USC. And Isabella – one of the GMA Co-moderator and ex Jean-Marie Muggli‘s twins – is also seeing changes in her appearance, two months after completing her final chemotherapy treatment.
In fact, she shared a TikTok In a video of her dancing in her new apartment on August 21, a user complimented her on her hair regrowth.
“The hair is growing back so beautifully,” the person commented, to which 19-year-old Isabella replied: “Thank you, mistress.”
Isabella moved into the apartment just in time for the start of the new school year. She documented her return on social media, sharing a picture of herself and her mother and writing, “Back at USC.”
In October 2023, at the start of her freshman year and one day before her birthday, Isabella underwent emergency surgery to remove a medulloblastoma, a malignant tumor, at the base of her brain.
“It was a great year,” she wrote in a TikTok Throwback video in August, “until it wasn’t.”
In July, Isabella shared that she had a “great, great” MRI scan that showed no malignant tumors. “Everything was clear. Cancer free,” Isabella said in a video she posted on her YouTube channel. “And everything is great.”
She will continue to be monitored by her medical team. “I don’t have another doctor’s appointment until October,” Isabella said in her vlog. “I already miss my doctors and everyone who helped me because they are all so kind. I’m just sad today because I know I won’t be back for a while because I love them so much.”
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In the following months, Isabella underwent two more brain surgeries as well as radiation therapy and several rounds of chemotherapy.
“@isabellastrahan you are a SUPERWOMAN,” Michael wrote in a June 16 Instagram post. “I ring the bell, finish chemo and am on my way. You keep fighting with a smile on your face, strength and determination. I am a proud papa! I love you Bella.”
In July, Isabella shared that she had a “great, great” MRI scan that showed no malignant tumors. “Everything was clear. Cancer free,” Isabella said in a video she posted on her YouTube channel. “And everything is great.”
She will continue to be monitored by her medical team. “I don’t have another doctor’s appointment until October,” Isabella said in her vlog. “I already miss my doctors and everyone who helped me because they are all so kind. I’m just sad today because I know I won’t be back for a while because I love them so much.”
Read on to learn more about Isabella’s inspiring cancer journey…
Diagnosis of brain tumors
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Isabella Strahan— the daughter of a former couple Michael Strahan And Jean-Marie Muggli– said she “didn’t realize anything was wrong with her health” until she started experiencing headaches and nausea in early October 2023.
After vomiting blood one day, at her father’s insistence, she underwent a thorough physical examination and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. The results showed medulloblastoma, a malignant brain tumor that occurs in children.
Later that month, she underwent brain surgery to remove the mass.
Family support
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Isabella made her diagnosis public in January 2024 in an interview with her father and ABC News. Robin Roberts.
“I think that in many ways I am the luckiest man in the world because I have a wonderful daughter,” Michael noted at the time. “I know she is going through it, but I know that we never get more than we can handle and that she will get through it.”
Isabella’s twin sister Sophia Strahan also offered her support. “I’m so lucky to have the most amazing sister and best friend in the world,” she wrote on Instagram. “The last few months have been so much harder than we could have ever imagined, but it has shown me how strong you are.”
radiotherapy
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Following her interview, Isabella announced that she had completed her radiation therapy.
“I’m so happy to finally be done,” she said in a YouTube video on January 16. “It’s been a long six weeks and I’m very happy that my head is finally healed after all of this because the side effects and everything else are really tough.”
First round of chemotherapy
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After radiotherapy, Isabella began chemotherapy to treat her cancer.
“My whole mouth feels like I had a giant root canal,” she said in a Feb. 16 vlog. “Every single tooth was just ripped out and not even surgically put back in. My jaw hurts, the bottom of my tongue hurts. It hurts when I swallow water.”
Nevertheless, the teenager was not discouraged and joked in a video posted a week later that her hair was “no longer enough”.
“Other than the fact that I’m bald,” she said, “it doesn’t cause me any emotional pain.”
Emergency skull surgery
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Although Isabella was originally scheduled to receive her second round of chemotherapy in early March, she underwent emergency skull surgery, during which doctors drained excess fluid from her head and replaced a bone that had originally been cut out with a titanium plate. This delayed the start of chemotherapy by weeks.
“I’m in so much pain,” she said in a March 6 vlog. “My face is extremely swollen and it sucks. I was in so much pain earlier. I was almost screaming.”
Special visit
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Isabella’s father Michael arranged for her favorite singer Bryson Tiller to stop by her home in New York City for a pick-me-up between treatments.
“You haven’t moved this much in months!” Michael joked in her vlog about the visit with his daughter. “You’re a real fangirl right now.”
Chemotherapy Round 2
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New side effects
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During her second round of chemotherapy, Isabella began to have difficulty walking.
“I literally can’t walk without feeling dizzy or out of breath,” she said in a March 27 vlog, lamenting that there is no “medication for exhaustion” she can take.
Good news
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The YouTuber was able to announce a positive update after completing her second round of chemotherapy: She shared that she only had to undergo two more rounds instead of the originally planned four.
“These are tears of joy,” she said in a video posted on April 10. “When they are tears of joy, you can’t even think about crying.”
Roadblock on their journey
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However, Isabella encountered a roadblock in her treatment plan when she had to undergo a third craniotomy. According to the teenager, this procedure was unlike anything she had experienced before.
“I’m not going to lie, I cried a lot,” she explained in an April 12 vlog. “They put a needle in three places and drained fluid, and I was fully awake. So that was my first surgery where I was fully awake.”
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