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Michael Strahan on GMA looking to the left© Getty Images

Michael Strahan steps away from GMA as daughter's cancer battle nears major milestone

Isabella Strahan is battling a brain tumor 

Hannah Hargrave
US Deputy Editor
June 6, 2024
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Michael Strahan has been noticeably absent from his hosting gig on Good Morning America this week and it may have something to do with his daughter, Isabella. 

Whit Johnson stepped in for Michael on Wednesday and Thursday's shows at a time when his teen is facing a major milestone in her cancer battle

Isabella, 19, is expected to undergo her last chemotherapy session at the start of summer and Michael will want to be right by her side when it happens.

At the end of May, Isabella updated fans on her Vlog when she threw a belated 19th birthday celebration for herself as she missed her big day last October while recovering from emergency brain surgery. 

She also revealed on May 21, that she had undergone her third round of chemotherapy and that her next would be her last. 

Michael Strahan's daughter Isabella was diagnosed with a brain tumor
Isabella is approaching her final chemotheraphy session

"Now I only have one round [of chemotherapy] to go, which is exciting," Isabella said from her hospital bed at Duke University Hospital with her twin sister, Sophia and dad, Michael by her side. 

"I'm kind of scared, once I'm done, how I'm going to go back to normal life," she confessed. "Because I feel like there's always going to be another treatment or something I have to do. But that's a later problem. Otherwise, I'm doing good."

Michael Strahan with his twin daughters Isabella and Sophia and his mom Louise
Michael with his twin daughters Isabella and Sophia and his mom Louise

She was initially going to have six rounds of chemo but it was reduced to four. 

It was at the end of last year, that Michael stepped away from his hosting duties to take care of a personal situation in his family.

Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Michael Strahan on GMA
Michael has been absent from GMA

In a joint interview with Isabella, they then revealed she was battling cancer.

Isabella, who started college at University of Southern California in Los Angeles last fall, was diagnosed with medulloblastoma in late October.

Still from a YouTube video shared by Michael Strahan's daughter Isabella Strahan on April 10, 2024, announcing she only had two more rounds of chemotherapy left© YouTube
Isabella has been incredibly brave

Doctors discovered a fast-growing 4-centimeter tumor – larger than a gold ball – in the back of her head and she underwent emergency surgery to remove it. 

Isabella has been undergoing treatment since the beginning of the year with the support of her family all the way. 

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