After 4 rounds of chemotherapy, Isabella Strahan rings the bell
Isabella Strahan, the daughter of "Good Morning America" co-anchor Michael Strahan, is celebrating a major milestone nearly six months after publicly revealing she had been diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor.
The 20-year-old shared in a vlog on her YouTube channel that she recently completed her final round of chemotherapy.
"This [has been] a long journey but I made it," she said. "And now I have to recover and get back to my usual state, which is going to take a long time, but I'm done with treatments."
Friends, family and hospital staff celebrated Isabella Strahan's accomplishment with a confetti parade at the hospital.
She then rang the bell to signify the end of chemotherapy, summing up the celebration as a "great day."
Michael Strahan took to Instagram to celebrate his daughter's milestone in her fight against cancer.
"@isabellastrahan you are a SUPERWOMAN! Ringing that bell finishing chemo and on your way!" he captioned a video of her ringing the bell. "You continue to fight with a smile on your face, strength, and determination. I am one proud Dad! Love you, Bella."
Isabella Strahan was a freshman at the University of Southern California when an MRI scan in October led to her diagnosis of medulloblastoma, a cancerous and fast-growing brain tumor that develops in the cerebellum, the back of the brain where movement and coordination are controlled, according to the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University, where she is being treated.
Medulloblastoma is a type of malignant tumor that accounts for about 20% of all childhood brain tumors, according to estimates published in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. About 300 children are diagnosed with medulloblastoma each year.
After undergoing brain surgery in late October, Isabella Strahan underwent rehabilitation followed by six weeks of radiation treatment.
She began chemotherapy in February and said she endured side effects including fatigue, hair loss and brain fog, and was hospitalized several times due to setbacks including fevers.
For the past six months, Isabella Strahan has shared the ups and downs of her health journey on her YouTube channel, an effort she said she started to help raise awareness about brain tumors, especially in kids.
"With my platform, I hope to just kind of be a voice and be a person who people who maybe are going through something similar, going through chemotherapy or radiation, can look at and just hear and just watch, or find something interesting about their day," she said on "GMA" in January. "I'm just excited for that."
