Isabella Strahan shares day-in-the-life amid chemotherapy, brain tumor battle
Six months after being diagnosed with a brain tumor, Isabella Strahan is sharing a glimpse into her day-to-day life.
The 19-year-old daughter of "Good Morning America" co-anchor Michael Strahan, shared in a new video Wednesday on her YouTube channel what it's like as she undergoes chemotherapy and works on her recovery.
In a video filmed by her twin sister, Sophia Strahan, Isabella takes viewers inside an area in her home she has set up as "Isabella's Station," where she stores a container full of medicine bottles, among other things.
"These are my medicines, that I take to stay alive," Isabella said.
Later in the video, the teen gives viewers a glimpse into the number of medical appointments she has, including dermatology, bloodwork and occupational therapy on that day alone.
In another clip, Isabella is seen being treated by a nurse at home.
Isabella was just one month into her freshman year at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles last fall when she began experiencing headaches and nausea. After testing, doctors discovered she had developed a fast-growing 4-centimeter tumor, larger than a golf ball, in the back of her brain, which was diagnosed as medulloblastoma.
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.
Since her diagnosis, which she revealed publicly in January, Isabella has undergone brain surgery as well as several rounds of radiation treatment.
She began chemotherapy in February and is expected to finish the treatment in May.
Isabella shared in a YouTube video on April 10 that her doctor reduced her rounds of chemotherapy from six to four, allowing her to finish earlier than expected.
"My doctor just called me and told me I only have to do two more rounds of chemotherapy, and it's like the biggest thing. I'm so happy," Strahan said while crying what she described as "happy tears." "So I'll be done in May and I can kind of try to have a summer to feel better."
With her rounds of chemotherapy reduced, Isabella said she will have more time off from treatments before returning in the fall to USC.
