After I received the good news, Isabella Strahan has suffered another setback as she continues to battle medulloblastoma, a tumor that starts in the back of the brain. On Friday the 19-year-old daughter of Michael Strahan uploaded a new YouTube vlogin which she revealed that she had contracted a fever while recovering from her second round of chemotherapy, and was ultimately told that she would need a third craniotomy just a month after her second.
As Isabella explained, she has to go to the hospital every time she has a fever of 100.4. In the new video, the University of Southern California student says she was given access to her chemotherapy port, had MRIs and CT scans, and had an IV inserted – which left her crying.
“So they did a little surgery. I’ve had this one before. They stuck a needle in three places and drained fluid, and I was completely awake. My first surgery fully awake,” she later shared.
Isabella admitted that the pain after the operation was still difficult to manage. “It’s not as bad as the first time, but I’m really in pain. They give me painkillers…they don’t work that well for me. So I’m in a lot of pain,” she admitted. before bursting into tears. “My head really, really hurts at the moment. I’m not going to lie, I cried a lot. I’m in a lot of pain. It’s not as bad as last time…my face isn’t as swollen but it literally hurts to do anything.
Isabella added that she can barely move without pain because she has two IVs, a PicC port and a chemotherapy port, which allow doctors to give her medication.
“I haven’t really eaten much in the last three or four days, nothing, so to speak. It’s really bad but I just can’t really eat and I’m not hungry,” she added. “There are ups and downs because I ate so much a week ago and now I can’t eat anything. I’m in a crisis right now.”
Although Isabella was soon discharged, she was back in the hospital a week later due to “shortness of breath.”
At the end of the video, the aspiring model explained that she had her third craniotomy – the second one that “just drained fluid” – and although she felt “a lot better,” it still meant she was due for her next round of chemotherapy postponed by a month.
The news is particularly disappointing since Isabella was recently informed of it Her chemotherapy treatments had been reduced from six to four, so that it could be finished in May instead of July.
“Yes, I only have to do two rounds of chemo, but it’s still three months,” Isabella said. “I wasn’t very happy about that. I just bawled because it’s just so disappointing to be like, ‘Yeah! I can be ready by May!’ And then everything changes because of a stupid headache.”
“So now I’m going to finish a little later than I wanted, but oh well,” she said.
As Isabella explained in her vlog shared on WednesdayIf she finishes her rounds of chemotherapy sooner, she would have more time to recover before returning to USC in the fall.
The student first experienced symptoms in early October – a month into her first year at USC in Los Angeles. After tests, doctors discovered she had developed a fast-growing, 4 centimeter tumor larger than a golf ball in the back of her brain, diagnosed as medulloblastoma. That same month, just a day before her 19th birthday, she underwent surgery to remove the mass.
Then Isabella started her YouTube series to document her journey to cancer treatment, by the setbacks for the pleasant surprises.
Watch Isabella Strahan’s latest vlog in full below.
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