Michael Strahan And Daughter Isabella Reveal Her Brain Tumor Diagnosis As Reason Behind His ‘GMA’ Absence Last Fall; Whoopi Goldberg Offers Encouraging Words

In an emotional segment on ABC’s Good Morning America today, co-anchor Michael Strahan revealed the reason for his extended absence from the show last fall: His then-18-year-old daughter Isabella was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor known as medulloblastoma.

Isabella Strahan was diagnosed with medulloblastoma last October about a month after she began experiencing headaches while beginning her freshman year at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Michael Strahan, who had not previously detailed the reasons for his several weeks away from the show, said going public now was Isabella’s choice.

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Following surgery to remove the tumor last fall, Isabella underwent a month of rehabilitation and several rounds of radiation treatment.

“I didn’t notice anything was off till probably like October 1,” Isabella said in an interview with GMA‘s Robin Roberts. “That’s when I definitely noticed headaches, nausea, couldn’t walk straight.”

Isabella said she finished her proton radiation therapy yesterday, and that “it was very exciting because it’s been a long 30 sessions, six weeks.” She will start chemotherapy next month at Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center in Durham, North Carolina, and plans to partner with the hospital to document her treatment in a YouTube series.

“I don’t want to hide it anymore,” a tearful Isabella, now 19, told Roberts, adding that she wants to be a voice and presence for other people undergoing radiation or chemotherapy. She said she re-learned how to walk again with the help of her twin sister Sophia.

Michael Strahan, who sat beside his daughter during the interview, said, “I literally think that in a lot of ways, I’m the luckiest man in the world because I’ve got an amazing daughter. 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.”

According to the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, medulloblastoma is a type of malignant tumor that accounts for about 20% of all childhood brain tumors, with about 500 children diagnosed each year. The condition is rarer among people of Isabella’s age.

Hours after the Strahans disclosed the diagnosis on GMA, The View moderator Whoopi Goldberg offered her on-air encouragement, revealing that a member of her own family had gone through a similar diagnosis and treatment.

“I’ve just gone through this – I didn’t physically go through it but someone in the family just went through it – and it is beatable,” Goldberg said staring into the camera and addressing Isabella, “and you will beat it.”