Isabella Strahan shares biggest lesson she learned through cancer battle
"I learned how you should advocate for yourself. I think the whole journey has taught me that," Isabella Strahan said Wednesday on "GMA," adding, "I think I should have known something was wrong earlier, and I think it's always important to trust yourself and trust your body ... That's something I've taken into account, is always staying positive but always really knowing in your mind if something's wrong."
Isabella Strahan, now 20, was diagnosed in October 2023 with medulloblastoma, a malignant brain tumor that develops in the cerebellum, or the back of the brain where movement and coordination are controlled.
She is sharing her story of undergoing multiple brain surgeries as well as chemotherapy and radiation in a new ABC special "Life Interrupted: Isabella Strahan's Fight to Beat Cancer," airing Feb. 5 on ABC at 10 p.m. ET, and streaming the next day on Hulu and Disney+.
Isabella Strahan recounts in the special how in September 2023, she started noticing she was walking in a zigzag pattern and not walking in a straight line. She says she thought she might have vertigo, but her symptoms continued, and she began experiencing nausea. Then, one day, she says she started throwing up blood.
She says her twin sister Sophia Strahan encouraged her to go to the emergency room, and Michael Strahan sent her to get checked by a doctor.
Isabella Strahan opens up about cancer journey in 1st look at new documentary
After Isabella Strahan received a diagnosis of medulloblastoma, she was immediately admitted into a Los Angeles hospital to undergo emergency brain surgery in order to try to remove the brain tumor.
Michael Strahan's daughter Isabella shares health update, announces ABC special
Dr. Michelle Israel, an internal medicine specialist and one of Isabella Strahan's doctors, says in the documentary that her prognosis at the time wasn't good.
"She was actually in danger of having a seizure, having a stroke, and potentially dying," Israel says.
Michael Strahan, a father of four, also opens up in the special about what it felt like for him as a parent when he learned his daughter had brain cancer.
"As a parent, you're scared. Oh my, you're just scared," he says in the special, adding, "It never occurred to us that it would be cancer. I'll be honest with you, just looking at the trajectory at that point of her life -- and we have no history of anything bad in the family."
Isabella Strahan would go on to document her cancer journey publicly in a series of vlogs on YouTube as she received treatment at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University.
After undergoing chemotherapy, radiation and multiple brain surgeries over the course of several months, Isabella Strahan was declared cancer-free by her doctors in July 2024.
The next month, in August 2024, she returned to college at the University of Southern California.
"It feels amazing," Isabella Strahan said Tuesday on "GMA" of being back at USC. "I love getting to be able to go to classes with people my age and I just joined a sorority, so it's been great to meet so many new people and really feel like I have a college experience again."
Over the coming years, Isabella Strahan will continue to be monitored by doctors, including undergoing scans to check for the possible return of cancer.
She said on "GMA" that she is currently focusing on regaining weight as well as strength, and focusing on improving her balance and getting into a routine in order to continue to make progress.
In the special, Isabella Strahan speaks about the common misconception that cancer is over when treatment is completed.
"I think people sometimes confuse ringing the bell with like being cancer-free," Isabella Strahan says in the special, referring to the tradition of ringing a bell at the end of chemotherapy treatment. "Sometimes it's not the case for everyone."
Adds Michael Strahan in the special, "There will not be a time where she's getting a scan where I won't be on pins and needles. I don't care if it's 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now, you'll always be nervous. And I could tell she feels it too.'
"Life Interrupted: Isabella Strahan's Fight to Beat Cancer" will air Feb. 5 on ABC at 10 p.m. ET and the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of ABC News.
Isabella Strahan shares biggest lesson she learned through cancer battle originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
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