Michael Strahan's daughter reveals brain tumor diagnosis on GMA: 'There is hope'

Morning TV personality Michael Strahan and his 19-year-old daughter, Isabella, have opened up about her recent brain tumor diagnosis in an emotional interview with Strahan's Good Morning America colleague and cancer survivor Robin Roberts.

���She’s always been strong, and this is something that is so personal,” Michael said on Thursday's episode of GMA while seated next to Isabella for a pre-recorded chat with Roberts. "I’m extremely proud."

Isabella said that she's currently "feeling good" and "excited for this whole process to wrap" so she can get back to school at the University of Southern California, where she first experienced severe headaches, vertigo, and nausea, and a loss of coordination shortly after beginning classes in the fall of 2023.

On Oct. 25, Isabella said the struggle became too much to handle, finally seeing a doctor after she threw up blood. After a round of tests, she was admitted to Cedars-Sinai hospital, where she was diagnosed with medulloblastoma and underwent emergency surgery to treat a four-centimeter tumor growing at the back of her brain.

"I don’t really remember much, I just remember trying to figure out how to get to L.A. ASAP," Michael said of the ordeal. "It just doesn’t feel real."

Amid her recovery, which includes sustained support from her twin sister, Sophia, Isabella began a YouTube series chronicling her journey, which she hopes brings a grounded perspective on living with cancer to other young people going through the same thing.

"Let people see there is hope, and you have to go into everyday with the best attitude, which is what she does" Michael said of his daughter's willingness to share her journey with others, later adding: "In a lot of ways, I’m the luckiest man in the world because I’ve got an amazing daughter and I know she’s going through it, but I know we’re never given more than we can handle, and that she’s going to crush this."

Isabella ended the interview through tears as she remembered a piece of advice Sophia gave her: "She said, 'You have to keep living,' [don't stop] just because this is happening.'"

Michael turned to hold his daughter's hand as he encouraged her to keep her head up, after she completed the first round of treatment, which included physical rehabilitation (she had to re-learn how to walk) as well as radiation. She'll next undergo chemotherapy in February at Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center in North Carolina.

"You keep on living, Isabella. You’re inspiring us every single day we’re around you, and we love you. We’re here for you, and you’ve got this," he said. "In 60 or 70 years ... you’ll be here, baby."

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