Isabella Strahan, the daughter of "Good Morning America" co-anchor Michael Strahan, is sharing a health update six months after being declared cancer-free following a brain cancer diagnosis in October 2023.
"It feels like I'm starting over," Isabella Strahan said in a new interview with People. "Back to where I started."
The 20-year-old has resumed her studies at the University of Southern California, where she was a freshman in fall 2023 when she began to experience symptoms that led to a diagnosis of a medulloblastoma, a cancerous and fast-growing brain tumor that develops in the cerebellum, the area of the brain that coordinates movement, according to the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University, where she was treated.
After undergoing emergency surgery to remove a 4-centimeter tumor in the back of her brain, Isabella Strahan endured two more surgeries and four rounds of chemotherapy, treatment she finished last June.
In July, she was declared cancer-free. Since then, the college student said she has focused on continuing her recovery and taking each day at a time.
"Obviously you can't predict what can happen, and that is a little scary," she told People. "But I don't think you can solely live in fear. I think I should live every day. Take every opportunity. I see the impact that can come from sharing my experience. My diagnosis, it's a part of me, but it doesn't define me. I want to be a voice."
Michael Strahan's daughter battles brain tumor: What to know about medulloblastomaIsabella Strahan's story from diagnosis to recovery will be told in an upcoming ABC special airing Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 10 p.m., EST, on ABC.
The special, "Life Interrupted: Isabella Strahan's Fight to Beat Cancer," will feature Isabella Strahan's doctors as well as other cancer patients inspired by her story, which she documented in a series of YouTube vlogs.
After 4 rounds of chemotherapy, Isabella Strahan rings the bellMichael Strahan, as well as Isabella Strahan's twin sister Sophia Strahan and mother Jean Muggli, will also be featured in the special discussing the emotional toll of caring for a loved one with cancer.
"Life Interrupted: Isabella Strahan's Fight to Beat Cancer" airs on ABC at 10 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Feb. 5, and streams next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
