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" Good Morning America " co-anchor Michael Strahan is opening up about what it felt like for him as a parent when he learned his daughter had brain cancer.
"As a parent, you"re scared. Oh my, you"re just scared," the father of four and "Good Morning America" co-anchor says in the new ABC special "Life Interrupted: Isabella Strahan"s Fight to Beat Cancer," a preview of which aired Thursday on "GMA."
Strahan learned in October 2023 that his then-19-year-old daughter Isabella Strahan had been diagnosed with medulloblastoma , a malignant brain tumor that develops in the cerebellum, or the back of the brain where movement and coordination are controlled.
Isabella Strahan, now 20, is sharing her health journey in the upcoming ABC documentary , airing Feb. 5 on ABC at 10 p.m. ET.
In "Life Interrupted," Michael Strahan describes the unknowns around his daughter"s diagnosis as "every parent"s worst nightmare."
"It never occurred to us that it would be cancer, I"ll be honest with you, just looking at the trajectory at that point of her life -- and we have no history of anything bad in the family," Strahan says.
PHOTO: "Good Morning America" co-anchor Michael Strahan with his twin daughters Sophia and Isabella Strahan. (Michael Strahan)
Isabella Strahan recounts in the documentary how in September 2023, she started noticing she was walking in a zigzag pattern and not walking in a straight line. She says she thought she might have vertigo, but her symptoms continued, and she began experiencing nausea. Then, one day, she says she started throwing up blood.
She says her twin sister Sophia Strahan encouraged her to go to the emergency room, and Michael Strahan sent her to get checked by a doctor.
Isabella Strahan opens up about cancer journey in 1st look at new documentary
After Isabella Strahan received a diagnosis of medulloblastoma, she was immediately admitted into a Los Angeles hospital to undergo brain surgery in order to try to remove the brain tumor.
Michael Strahan"s daughter Isabella shares health update, announces ABC special
Dr. Michelle Israel, an internal medicine specialist and one of Isabella Strahan"s doctors, says in the documentary that her prognosis at the time wasn"t good.
"She was actually in danger of having a seizure, having a stroke, and potentially dying," Israel says.
Isabella Strahan would go on to document her cancer journey publicly in a series of vlogs on YouTube as she received treatment at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University.
After undergoing chemotherapy, radiation and two brain surgeries, Isabella Strahan was declared cancer-free by her doctors in July 2024.
PHOTO: Isabella Strahan opens up about her cancer journey in the documentary "Life Interrupted: Isabella Strahan"s Fight to Beat Cancer," airing Feb. 5 on ABC. (ABC News)
The next month, in August 2024, she returned to college at the University of Southern California.
Over the coming years, Isabella Strahan will continue to be monitored by doctors, including undergoing scans to check for the possible return of cancer.
"I think people sometimes confuse ringing the bell with like being cancer-free," Isabella Strahan said, referring to the tradition of ringing a bell at the end of chemotherapy treatment. "Sometimes it"s not the case for everyone."
Added Michael Strahan, "There will not be a time where she"s getting a scan where I won"t be on pins and needles. I don"t care if it"s 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now, you"ll always be nervous. And I could tell she feels it too.”
PHOTO: “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. (ABC)
"Life Interrupted: Isabella Strahan"s Fight to Beat Cancer" will air Feb. 5 on ABC at 10 p.m. ET and the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
Michael Strahan says daughter"s cancer diagnosis was "every parent"s worst nightmare" originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com