Michael Strahan‘s daughter Isabella has been frank about her health journey since being diagnosed with a “fast-growing” form of brain cancer at the age of 19. But now, nearly one year since she received the life-changing diagnosis, she and her father have sat down for a joint interview to reflect on her path to becoming officially cancer-free.
Michael and Isabella appeared hopeful during their emotional interview on Good Morning America in January 2024, when they first announced Isabella had been diagnosed with medulloblastoma just months before. Now, speaking to Town & Country, the GMA host candidly admitted that he worried Isabella could die from the malignant tumor they found in her cerebellum.
“Yes, as a parent you hear that your kid has cancer and you go, ‘Whoa,’” he told the outlet during a joint interview with his daughter when asked about his fears for her health. “You have to control your thoughts, because your brain thinks of the worst case scenario, and then you work your way back from there. I don’t think I’ll go through the rest of my life without some worry in some shape or form about this.”
Since receiving her diagnosis, Isabella has undergone six weeks of radiation, four rounds of chemotherapy, three surgeries (including brain surgery), and rehabilitation to learn how to walk and speak again.
“It was definitely tough and painful to watch that,” Michael said. “It was like, ‘How soon is it going to come back?’ It was painful for her to get out of bed and move and do those things that are completely necessary for her to do. As a parent, to see that was unsettling at times.” He added that he was “always amazed” by her tough attitude.
But Isabella dutifully captured her cancer journey in a series of vlogs in partnership with Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center, where she received treatment. It was through this series that Isabella announced she was officially cancer-free in July 2024. Now, she says she is sticking to a nutritious diet and must receive an MRI every two months to keep an eye on her health.
“My doctors have told me they don’t think it will recur, which is very reassuring,” she told the outlet.
Isabella has since returned to school at USC. Michael is also back on the air on Good Morning America and Fox NFL Sundays, though he stayed off the air for three weeks after Isabella received her diagnosis in 2023.
“I missed GMA, my football show, everything. To be honest with you, none of it mattered. Being at work or being at the hospital: What was the most important thing? You have to figure that out and make whatever the best decision is for you and your family. And that’s what I did,” he said. He later added, “I think going back to work was also good—it normalized things for me… To have the support of people at GMA and Fox was a godsend.”
The daytime host also noted that he has no plans of retiring “anytime soon,” but the experience certainly reframed how he views the rest of his career.
“I will at some point, and I’d like to say a lot sooner than a lot of people probably think I will,” he said. “When I do it, it will be because I just want to have the freedom to be with her and her sister, and her other sister and brother. Wherever they are, whatever they’re doing, I want to be there.”
The post ‘GMA’s Michael Strahan Admits He Feared Daughter Isabella Would Die Of Cancer: “Your Brain Thinks Of The Worst Case Scenario” appeared first on Decider.
