Good Morning America co-anchor Michael Strahan gave an update on his daughter’s cancer journey after she started chemotherapy for her brain tumor, revealing she experienced a setback.
“She’s been going through it and fighting through it,” Strahan said Feb. 21. “The last three days have been a little rough because she had a fever that kind of comes and goes. So, have a fever, had to take her to the hospital. Thought she’d come home a few hours later. She said, ‘I thought I was going to be for two hours, well it has been three days, but hopefully she’ll be home today.”
His co-host Robin Roberts asked Strahan how he was doing with everything.
Strahan affirmed he was good and expressed his gratitude to have the sport of his coworkers and viewers, but it was hard to see his daughter go through it.
“I don’t think anything has happened that we haven’t expected. Nothing happened that she hadn’t expected, but it is thought to see her go through it. I know she’s a tough young lady, and she’s going to make it through,” the 52-year-old anchor said.
Last month, Isabella and her father appeared on GMA and revealed to the world that she was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a brain tumor that’s commonly found in kids ages 5 to 9.
Isabella went through six weeks of proton radiation before her chemotherapy treatment at Duke University Hospital in North Carolina.
She partnered with Duke Children’s Hospital and commenced her YouTube series documenting her cancer journey to inspire other families and children going through a similar journey.
In her latest YouTube update on Feb. 21, Isabella described her first week in the hospital.
“It was horrible,” she said. “Well, it actually wasn’t horrible until it got horrible. The first day was fine. I could still eat. I was eating the whole time in the hospital, actually.”
The 19-year-old teen described having the cancer “poisons” in her body as “weird.”
“You don’t really think you’re going to get poison put through your body,” she said. “not fun. I’m very achy now.”
On the second day, she had rigor symptoms, where the body shivers and the person feels cold, but the body temperature is above average.
Her appetite decreased, and she said she experienced much pain in her jaw and chest when she came home for a few days.
Despite the hardships, Isabella persists in fighting while maintaining a positive attitude. Last month, the 19-year-old survivor posted a photo of her having a fun beach and pool day with her loved ones.
