How Isabella Strahan Is Embracing Hair Loss Amid Cancer Journey
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Originally appeared on E! Online
Isabella Strahan's is maintaining a positive attitude during a tough chapter.
As Michael Strahan's 19-year-old daughter makes her way through chemotherapy, she's kept her followers updated on her cancer treatment. And in her latest video, she's making it clear her sense of humor has remained intact amid her health battle.
In an April 27 TikTok, Isabella sports a green floral dress and blonde wig before her twin sister, Sophia Strahan, snatches it off her head. The video is dubbed by a Monster High clip popularized on the app saying, "Oh my gosh, she's bald. She's bald and she's torturing people who have hair."
And Isabella added in the video's caption, "If I was a sound."
After being diagnosed with medulloblastoma in October, the USC student has used her social media to document her chemotherapy journey, detailing the more serious parts of her treatment, including multiple craniotomies.
In a recent YouTube video, Isabella—who is also daughter to Jean Muggli—detailed a day in her life, and several trips to the hospital.
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"I had my third craniotomy," she shared April 12. "I'm feeling a lot better."
Throughout the trying experience, Isabella had her family by her side, including father Michael, who was featured in the video accompanying his daughter after she was experiencing shortness of breath.
The Good Morning America co-host has continued to support his daughter through her treatments, including arranging a visit from her favorite celebrity, Bryson Tiller.
"I know she's going through it, but I know that we're never given more than we can handle," the 52-year-old told ABC News in January. "I literally think that in a lot of ways, I'm the luckiest man in the world because I've got an amazing daughter."
Read on for a full timeline of Isabella's cancer journey.
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 Jan. 16 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 Feb. 16 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, 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 March 6 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.
"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 21 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 27 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 April 10. "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 12 vlog. "They sunk a needle in three spots and drained fluid, and I was completely awake for this. So, my first completely awake surgery."
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