'I got to ring the bell': Michael Strahan's daughter Isabella reveals brain tumor battle

Michael Strahan's 19-year-old girl Isabella is battling a malignant encephalon tumor known arsenic medulloblastoma, the "Good Morning America" co-anchor and his girl shared Thursday.

"I virtually deliberation that successful a batch of ways, I'm the luckiest antheral successful the satellite due to the fact that I've got an astonishing daughter," Michael Strahan said successful an interrogation with his chap co-anchor, Robin Roberts. "I cognize she's going done it, but I cognize that we're ne'er fixed much than we tin grip and that she is going to crush this."

Isabella Strahan was diagnosed with medulloblastoma successful precocious October, astir 1 period aft she said she began experiencing headaches portion opening her freshman twelvemonth astatine the University of Southern California successful Los Angeles.

"I didn't announcement thing was disconnected till astir apt similar Oct. 1," she said, speaking with Roberts. "That's erstwhile I decidedly noticed headaches, nausea, couldn't locomotion straight."

Initially, Isabella Strahan said she thought she had vertigo but a fewer weeks aft noticing her symptoms, she said she woke up connected Oct. 25 and realized her information had taken a crook for the worse.

"I woke up, astir apt astatine like, 1 p.m. I dreaded waking up. But I was throwing up blood," she recounted. "I was like, 'Hm, this astir apt isn't good.' So I texted [my sister], who past notified the full family."

Her symptoms persisted, and Michael Strahan said they encouraged Isabella to question aesculapian attention.

"That was erstwhile we decided, 'You request to truly spell get a thorough checkup,'" helium said. "And convey goodness for the doctor. I consciousness similar this doc saved her beingness due to the fact that she was thorough capable to say, 'Let's bash the afloat checkup.'"

"She did an [electrocardiogram, oregon EKG], determination for my bosom and like, different stuff, but she didn't person an MRI machine, truthful I went to [get an MRI] determination else," Isabella Strahan said of the appointment. "And past she calls maine and she's like, 'You request to caput to Cedars-Sinai [Medical Center] close now. I'm gonna conscionable you there.'"

It was determination she said doctors discovered she had developed a fast-growing 4-centimeter tumor, larger than a play ball, successful the backmost of her brain.

Michael Strahan said helium learned the quality earlier Isabella did and "it didn't consciousness real."

"I don't truly retrieve much," helium said. "I conscionable retrieve trying to fig retired however to get to LA ASAP. And it conscionable doesn't consciousness real. It conscionable didn't consciousness real."

Medulloblastoma is simply a benignant of malignant tumor that accounts for astir 20% of each puerility encephalon tumors, according to estimates published successful the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. About 500 children are diagnosed with medulloblastoma each year.

"But seldom idiosyncratic who's 18, 19 years old," Michael Strahan said. "But it's inactive scary due to the fact that it's inactive truthful overmuch to spell through. And the hardest happening to get implicit is to deliberation that she has to spell done this herself."

He continued, "Doctors said, 'You shouldn't hazard trying to enactment her connected a level to get her to the East Coast oregon to different doctor. We cognize what it is and we should get it retired arsenic soon arsenic possible.'"

On Oct. 27, the time earlier her 19th birthday, Isabella Strahan underwent exigency country astatine Cedars-Sinai to region the mass.

She said her recollection of her betterment afterward remains foggy, and she had to larn however to locomotion again with the assistance of her duplicate sister Sophia.

Michael Strahan's 19-year-old girl Isabella battles a malignant encephalon tumor known arsenic medulloblastoma

"She was heavy medicated, arsenic you could imagine," Michael Strahan said. "But she would person conversations. She had a batch of her friends and they would travel implicit conscionable to beryllium with her. And determination were times erstwhile she was successful a batch of pain. She was sleeping a lot."

After surgery, Isabella Strahan besides underwent a period of rehabilitation and respective rounds of radiation treatment.

"So I conscionable finished radiation therapy, which is proton radiation, and I got to ringing the doorbell yesterday," she said. "It was great. It was precise breathtaking due to the fact that it's been a agelong 30 sessions, six weeks."

Although she said her attraction near her feeling fatigue, immoderate nausea and dizziness, among different broadside effects, she said she is "feeling good" wide these days.

"I'm feeling good. Not excessively bad. And I'm precise excited for this full process to wrap. But you conscionable person to support surviving each day, I think, done the full thing," she said.

In February, Isabella Strahan volition commencement chemotherapy astatine Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center successful Durham, North Carolina.

"That's my adjacent step. I'm acceptable for it to commencement and beryllium 1 time person to being over," she said.

Although she has kept this portion of her beingness backstage online, she said she is present acceptable to spouse with Duke to papers her travel successful a caller YouTube series, which volition assistance Duke Children's.

"It's been like, 2 months of keeping it quiet, which is decidedly difficult," she said. "I don't wanna fell it anymore 'cause it's hard to ever support in. I anticipation to conscionable benignant of beryllium a voice, and beryllium [someone] who people, possibly [those who] are going done chemotherapy oregon radiation tin look at."

Both Michael and Isabella Strahan accidental this acquisition has fixed them a caller position connected the important things successful life.

"You larn that you're astir apt not arsenic beardown arsenic you thought you were erstwhile you person to truly deliberation astir the existent things, and I realized that I request enactment from everybody," Michael Strahan said. "You deliberation that I'm the athlete, the pugnacious guy, you know, I tin travel and handle, I'm the begetter successful the family. It is not astir immoderate of that. It doesn't matter. And it's truly made maine alteration my position connected truthful galore things successful my life."

"Perspective is simply a large thing," Isabella Strahan added. "I'm grateful. I americium grateful conscionable to locomotion oregon spot friends oregon bash something, 'cause erstwhile you can't bash something, it like, truly impacts you."

For now, Isabella Strahan said she's focused connected the aboriginal and yet returning to assemblage erstwhile her attraction wraps up.

"I'm looking guardant to getting backmost to assemblage and moving backmost to California and conscionable starting my schoolhouse acquisition over. Not over, but conscionable restarting, being backmost into a regular and thing that's enjoyable," she said.