Michael Strahan is glad to be in the end-zone now that his daughter Isabella Strahan is cancer-free.
But while the NFL Hall of Famer’s daughter underwent multiple rounds of surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation over the past year for medulloblastoma—a malignant brain tumor—Michael admitted he was frightened that she might die.
“As a parent you hear that your kid has cancer and you go, ‘Whoa,’” Michael told Town & Country in an interview published Oct. 29. “You have to control your thoughts, because your brain thinks of the worst case scenario and then you work your way back from there.”
He noted, “I don’t think I’ll go through the rest of my life without some worry in some shape or form about this.”
The Good Morning America anchor—who shares Isabella and her twin sister, Sophia, both 20, with ex Jean Muggli, as well as children Tanita, 32, and Michael Jr., 31, with ex-wife Wanda Hutchins—also described how difficult it was to witness Isabella go through treatment.
“It’s been a crazy year,” Michael continued. “I think in the long run we’ll figure out a way to benefit from it. The process was a lot scarier than we imagined—seeing her come out of surgery, and all the things she had to learn how to do again. You just pray that everything gets back to normal.”
He added, “There were times when we said, ‘We know it’s painful and tough, but it’s temporary.’”
As for how Isabella—who recently re-started her freshman year at the University of Southern California—is feeling now that she is three months cancer-free? She shared she still has double vision, difficulty gaining weight and her “balance is all over the place,” but that’s progress from where she used to be.
“I feel like I’ve grown in many ways,” Isabella told the outlet. “I’m super-grateful for walking and talking again. You don’t think of the things you can do until you live without them.”
But her dad made sure to look on the bright side of her growth.
“The vision and balance stuff sound like me,” Michael said. “Yours is going to come back. I’m getting old. Just wait till you get to the point in your life where you’re like, ‘God, I don’t want to gain any more weight.’”
For more of Isabella’s journey to becoming cancer-free, keep reading…
Brain Cancer Diagnosis
Isabella Strahan—the daughter of former couple Michael Strahan and Jean Muggli—said she "didn't notice anything was off" about her health until early October 2023, when she started experiencing headaches and nausea.
After throwing up blood one day, she got a full checkup and MRI scan at the urging of her dad. The results showed medulloblastoma, a malignant brain tumor found in children.
Later that month, she underwent brain surgery to remove the mass.
Family Support
Isabella went public with her diagnosis in a January 2024 interview with her dad and ABC News' Robin Roberts.
"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 noted at the time. "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."
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's made me realize just how strong you are"
Radiation Therapy
Following her interview, Isabella shared she had finished her round of radiation therapy.
"I'm very excited to finally be done," she said in a January 2024 YouTube video. "It's been a long six weeks and I'm very happy to finally heal my head after all of this because the side effects and everything get to you."
First Chemotherapy Round
Following radiation therapy, Isabella began undergoing chemotherapy to treat her cancer.
"My whole mouth feels like I got one giant root canal," she shared in a February 2024 vlog. "Every single tooth, just ripped out and not even surgically put back in. My jaw hurts, the bottom of my tongue hurts. It hurts when I gulp water."
Still, the teen kept her spirits up, joking in a video posted a week later that her hair is "insufficient now."
"Besides being bald," she said, "it doesn't bring me pain mentally."
Emergency Skull Surgery
Though Isabella was initially scheduled to undergo her second round of chemotherapy in early March 2024, she underwent emergency surgery on her skull—during which doctors drained out extra fluid from her head and replaced a bone they had originally cut out with a titanium plate—which pushed her chemo back by weeks.
"I'm in so much pain," she said in a vlog. "My face is extremely puffy, and this sucks. I was in so much pain earlier. I was, like, screaming."
Special Visit
Isabella's dad Michael arranged for her favorite singer Bryson Tiller to stop by their New York City home as a pick-me-up amid her treatments in March 2024.
"You haven't moved this much in months!" Michael joked to his daughter in her vlog of the visit. "You are fangirling right now."
Chemotherapy Round 2
Isabella shared in a March 2024 video that she had started her second round of chemotherapy, meaning there was "just four more" rounds to go.
New Side Effects
Amid her second chemotherapy round, Isabella said she began experiencing difficulties in walking.
"I literally can't walk without being lightheaded or out of breath," she shared in a March 2024 vlog, lamenting that there isn't an "anti-exhaustion medicine" she could take.
Good News
The YouTuber had a positive update after finishing her second round of chemotherapy, sharing that she would only have to undergo two more rounds of instead of the originally scheduled four.
"These are happy tears," she said in a video posted in April 2024. "It's not even considering crying when it's happy tears."
Roadblock in Her Journey
However, Isabella hit a bump in the road in her treatment plan when she had to undergo a third craniotomy. According to the teen, this procedure was unlike anything she had previously experienced.
"Not going to lie, I've been crying a lot," she detailed in an April 2024 vlog. "They sunk a needle in three spots and drained fluid, and I was completely awake for this. So, my first completely awake surgery."
Third Time's the Charm?
Not so much. Detailing the results of her third round of chemotheraphy, Isabella revealed her appetite was nonexistant. "Last week, it just dropped to zero," Isabella said in a May 2024 video. "So, it's annoying."
And though she was struggling with memory loss as well, she was able to dig into the bright side of the experience. "Tomorrow is really my last day of chemo," Isabella noted, "and then it's my last cycle, and then I'm done. It's insane."
A Crowning Achievement
Isabella picked up her crown to celebrate the end of her chemo treatments. "Just finished chemo," she wrote in a June 2024 TikTok video, which she captioned, "Did it."
The timing meant the University of Southern California student—who celebrated by ringing the bell after walking through a confetti parade—could have a bit of a summer break.
"I'm so happy cause I thought I'd be done at the end of July," she explained. "I was supposed to do six rounds in total. And then I really would just have to go straight back to school. I'm so happy."
Sharing that she had her chemo port removed in a July 2024 YouTube vlog, she acknowledged the area was still a bit sore. However, she reasoned, "The recovery for this seems to be four weeks of not going in water and stuff like that, just kind of being careful, and scar care. So not too bad."
Officially Cancer Free
Isabella was obviously relieved to have a "great, great scan" after finishing her chemotherapy, sharing in a video posted to her YouTube channel July 2024 that "everything was clear. Cancer-free. And everything is great."
Still, she acknowledged, "I miss my doctors already and everyone who's helped. Because they're all so nice. I feel like I'm just saddened today knowing that I wasn't gonna be going back for a while 'cause I love them so much."
Happiest Place on Earth
Now that she was officially cancer-free, what else could Isabella do except go to Disneyland? Her Super Bowl-winning dad joined her and twin sis Sophia to mark their joint 20th birthday a few days early in October 2024.
The college student also celebrated another key milestone.
“365 days since my life changed tremendously,” she captioned a shot of herself in a cap, gown, and mask, lying in a hospital bed on her Instagram Story. Adding another pic of all the balloons and flowers she received, she added, “Thankful for the progress I’ve made.”
"The Life I Fought For"
In a September 2024 TikTok video, Isabella shared clips from throughout her cancer journey, including her lying in a hospital bed, relearning how to walk and the aftermath of her freshly shaved head. However, the second half of the video featured snippets of her smiling alongside her Kenneth Cole modeling campaign, enjoying an oceanside hike and going on a run, which she was unable to do while sick.
In addition to the clips, H.E.R.’s song “The Journey” played throughout the TikTok, which says, “Going through hell, but still, you're gonna make it through. It's the fire that they can't put out inside.”
In the caption of the post, Isabella triumphantly wrote, “Living the life I fought for.”