Michael Strahan has tackled just about everything—Super Bowl battles, live TV chaos, and the relentless grind of morning news. But nothing could have prepared him for the fight his family faced this past year. Strahan and his family’s life turned upside down when they learned that his daughter, Isabella Strahan, was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer.

Picture this: Isabella was about to celebrate her 19th birthday, just started her college career at USC, and was ready to enter a new life. But nope, life threw an unexpected turn at her. Right after she found out about her diagnosis, Isabella had to undergo brain surgery. And guess what? She got to know about her scheduled surgery only 24 hours before it. Pretty wild, right?

On March 1, Isabella joined Noor Hassan on the Beyond the Battlefront podcast, where Hassan asked her about her friends and family’s response when they found out about her cancer diagnosis. “Yeah, so it was really kind of crazy to see how much like this could bring people together,” she said. “Like I know initially when I got my surgery, like literally the next day, less than 24 hours because I think they told me I had to get brain surgery, probably six o’clock. And the next day, my surgery was at like two. Pretty, pretty quick turnaround.”

Honestly, who can blame her? I mean, she noticed continuous headaches, nausea, and dizziness, but thought it could have been due to overwork. But then one day, she threw up blood, and that’s when her twin sister, Sophia, figured something was wrong. She forced her to visit the hospital and that’s how Strahan and his family came to know about Isabella’s condition. And when the doctor advised him about Isabella’s surgery, he didn’t wait for a moment and told Isabella about the Surgery. Just like that, Isabella’s life turned upside down.

But Isabella had her family and friends right by her side during the toughest time of her life. “I think I had like my mom, my sister flew out. My dad flew out. His girlfriend flew out like two of my high school friends who live here,” she continued. “Literally, as I was getting ready for surgery, they like came in like really eccentric.”

During the treatment, then 19-year-old Isabella had to undergo three brain surgeries. And let’s be honest—that wasn’t all for her. Following her surgery, Isabella went through six weeks of radiation and four rounds of chemotherapy to finally recover from cancer. She is a cancer survivor and now? Well, the 21-year-old Isabella just returned to USC to continue her college.

Isabella Strahan makes her return to USC after a year full of struggles

Isabella Strahan had her eyes set on USC for a reason—it wasn’t just about the palm trees and California sunshine (though, let’s be real, that’s a solid bonus). She wanted to dive into the world of media and storytelling. One of the reasons why she chose to major in communications. That surely makes sense, right? I mean, Michael Strahan knows a thing or two about being in front of the camera and now his daughter is following the same path.

However, returning to USC wasn’t that simple for Isabella. You see, due to her medical condition, she had to miss out on a whole year at USC. Now that she returned to USC, you can surely imagine how tough it is for her to adjust, right? That’s when Noor Hassan asked her, “You mentioned like being in college that fall. How did that kind of impact your experience, like with the treatment and also just socially with everyone?”

To her response, Isabella revealed that she had to adjust at college because she was gone for over a year. “Being back at school, seeing all the friend groups that formed when I wasn’t there. But honestly, it’s an adjustment because, of course, I was gone for most of the year.” Sounds relatable, right? Yeah, Isabella admitted that she made a few friends at college who would visit her at the hospital, while she was recovering.

Luckily, things are totally different for her. Or we can just say that things are far better not just for her but for the whole Strahan household. Isabella even documented her entire journey on her vlogs that are available on her YouTube channel. On top of that, a documentary aired on ABC titled Life Interrupted: Isabella Strahan’s Fight to Beat Cancer also covers the journey of Michael Strahan and his family during their toughest time.