Brain Cancer As A College Freshman & America Wakes Up With Your Dad Every Morning—Isabella Strahan, 20, Just Wanted To Feel Normal Again

Speaking exclusively to People, Sophia recounted her sister’s struggle with her new routine fighting cancer, remembering being told by Isabella, “I just want to feel normal. Nothing in my life is normal.”

Sophia said she was determined to help her sibling find normalcy through adversity, despite any part of her brain cancer journey not being a “normal experience.”

She explained further, “Something for me … it was hard for me being back at school and knowing she was just sitting at home going through all these treatments while her roommates and all her friends at school are still going out, having fun.

“It”s like, I’m at school, I’m a freshman, I have my group of friends and I’m always doing things. I couldn’t even imagine how hard that would be for her, like watch me living my life in college and her friends doing that and not being able to do that. And something she would say to me quite a few times was like, ‘I just don’t feel normal. I want to feel normal … nothing about my life right now is normal.”

As an emotional Isabella listened on with their dad, Sophia continued, “I think something that I tried to do best was make her feel normal. I feel like when there’s just so many adults in the room, there’s nobody really around that’s your age to have fun with or just chat about current events with.

“I feel like something that I took the most pride in doing was just to make small talk and talk about our friends and what drama was going on.”

She continued, “Nothing that she went through is a normal experience but now looking back at that, she’s back in her life and I think she handled everything so incredibly well and I can’t even imagine how it felt.”

Sophia also admitted that even though her sister battled brain cancer she never “considered the worst of it” but the experience made her “re-evaluate” things.

Looking back on how she and her sister have had each other since birth, she admitted she had a “scary realization” during Isabella’s first brain surgery on what if her sister wasn’t around anymore.

“I think it definitely made us closer in different ways. … It’s a whole different relationship when you have to support somebody going through something like that,” she added.

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A post shared by Sophia Strahan (@sophialstrahan)

Isabella then chimed in, “I think what was so beneficial to have such a great support system, because I know people who don’t, it’s difficult, but I feel like I really lucked out, because Sophia obviously has always been there.

“And it was great even if I was just at home and all my friends were busy, Sophia would like, she surprised me one month … she came to New York, and I think it was good to have someone who would always talk to me and always remember. She was really good at making me remember that I was a 19-year-old too.”

She also recounted how her dad would come sit with her in the hospital even after his long work days and she would take funny photos of him falling asleep in a chair nearby her.

Looking back on how Isabella once told him “Dad, I’ll do whatever, I want to live,” her dad Michael admitted it made him very emotional but it also allowed him to realize “she wouldn’t quit.” He added, “she was going to fight … and she did.”

Isabella’s Cancer Journey

Isabella documented her journey in a series of video blogs, and she finally was dubbed “cancer-free” after having a clear scan in July 2024, she announced in a Vlog post.

Earlier in 2023, she revealed she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor after experiencing harsh headaches and nausea and had trouble walking.

More specifically, she had a medulloblastoma, which is a rare primary central nervous system tumor, the National Cancer Institute explains. This type of brain tumor is cancerous and grows quickly, making it more likely to spread to other parts of the body.

Common symptoms for this type of tumor may include:

• Difficulty walking or balancing
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Difficulty with vision
• Seizures

She first underwent emergency surgery to remove most of the mass in her brain. Additional treatment includes radiation therapy, followed by chemotherapy, to try and get any remaining cancer cells left behind.

WATCH: Hair loss during chemo.

Strahan shared that she had a hellacious chemotherapy experience as she struggled with the grueling side effects of treatment.

Chemotherapy is an effective tool for oncologists to help treat cancer by stopping cancerous cells from growing, dividing, and spreading to other organs. Chemo works by traveling through the bloodstream, killing cancerous cells. However, the process also impacts healthy cells, leading to side effects.

Patients almost universally experience fatigue, often alongside gastrointestinal side effects, such as nausea. Doctors have many effective medications to combat chemo-induced nausea. “But mitigating that fatigue often depends on the patient,” says Dr. Renata Urban, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Since reaching remission, Strahan said in one of her YouTube videos, “Ring the bell three times. It’s a toll to clearly say my treatment is done, this course is run, and I’m on my way.”

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A post shared by Isabella Strahan (@isabellastrahan)

Building Support During Your Cancer Journey

If you were recently diagnosed with cancer, or just finished up a battle against a disease, you likely know about the wide range of emotions that news can bring. This is one of the most challenging phases of the cancer journey to overcome.

However, a team of supporters can be most useful during these early stages. Your supporters can be close family members and friends or people from outside your inner circle.

WATCH: Seeking support after a diagnosis.

“Some people don’t need to go outside of their family and friends circle. They feel like they have enough support there,” New York-based psychiatrist Dr. Lori Plutchik tells SurvivorNet.

“But for people who feel like they need a little bit more, it is important to reach out to a mental health professional,” she added.

One benefit of having supporters is that they can help alleviate stress and anxiety following your diagnosis and advocate for you during treatment.

Understanding Brain Tumors

Brain tumors account for 85-90% of all primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). In 2023, the ASCO estimated that 24,810 adults (14,280 men and 10,530 women) in the United States would be diagnosed with primary cancerous tumors of the brain and spinal cord.

The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord and acts as the main “processing center” for the body’s nervous system. The normal function of the brain and spinal cord can become difficult if there’s a tumor putting pressure on or spreading into normal tissue close by.

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There are many different types of brain and spinal cord tumors and some of which are more likely to spread into nearby parts of the brain or spinal cord than others. Slow-growing tumors may be considered benign, however, even these types of tumors can lead to serious problems.

Meanwhile, symptoms of brain tumors, as a whole, are usually caused by increased pressure in the skull. This pressure can stem from tumor growth, swelling in the brain, or blockage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the American Cancer Society explains.

General symptoms may include:

• Headache
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Blurred vision
• Balance problems
• Personality or behavior changes
• Seizures
• Drowsiness or even coma

Additionally, MD Anderson Cancer Center notes that changes in the ability to smell can also be a sign of brain tumors, and, more specifically, “strange smells” can be a symptom of seizures, which can result from brain tumors.

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It’s important to note that these symptoms are not exclusive to brain tumors. Still, you should always speak with your doctor if you’re experiencing any health problems.

Meanwhile, treatment options for brain cancer depend on a variety of factors, including the size and type of the tumor as well as the grade of the tumor.

Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy are options doctors use to treat brain tumors. Cancer warriors are encouraged to talk to their doctor about their situation and the best treatment options.

Understanding Gliomas

There are various types of brain cancers and tumors that someone may be diagnosed with, so it’s important to understand that a glioma is a tumor originating in the central nervous system (CNS), specifically in the brain or spinal cord. A glioma originates in glial cells. Glial cells are supportive cells in the brain that protect and maintain the neurons. These types of tumors can either be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous).

“Glioma is a broad term that refers to a whole range of different types of primary brain tumors,” Dr. Alexandra Miller, Director of the Neuro-Oncologist Division at NYU Langone Health, tells SurvivorNet.

“They’re tumors that originate in the brain and very rarely spread outside the brain to other parts of the body,” Dr. Miller continued.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive and lethal form of primary brain tumor. Classified as a Grade 4 glioma by the World Health Organization (WHO), glioblastoma presents significant challenges for treatment due to its highly invasive nature, rapid growth, and resistance to most conventional therapies.

WATCH: Understanding Gliomas

According to the National Cancer Institute, the average survival rate is 15 months with treatment and less than six if left untreated. While there is a five-year survival rate of averaging 6 percent, those individuals will never be cancer-free. They must continue receiving radiation and chemotherapy for the rest of their lives.

Clinical trials help doctors better understand cancer and discover more effective treatment methods. They also allow patients to try a treatment before it’s approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which can potentially be life-changing.

WATCH: Clinical Trials can be Life-Saving

Within the U.S., all new drugs must go through clinical trials before the FDA approves them. Although the rewards of clinical trials can be great, they also come with risks. Talking to your doctor about this before enrolling in a trial is important.

Glioblastoma Risk Factors and Symptoms

Glioblastoma risk factors can include:

• Prior radiation exposure
• Gender: men are more likely to get glioblastoma than women
• Age: people 50 years or older
• Certain genetic syndromes, including neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis, von Hippel-Lindau disease

Common symptoms of glioblastoma can include:

• Headaches
• Seizures
• Changes in mental function, mood, or personality
• Changes in speech
• Sensory changes in hearing, smell, and sight
• Loss of balance
• Changes in your pulse and breathing rate

Treatment Options for Gliomas

“The first step is always the neurosurgery. How much can you take out? Is it safe to do surgery? Do you have to rely on a biopsy? Can you even do a biopsy?” Dr. Henry Friedman, Deputy Director of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke, tells SurvivorNet.

WATCH: Glioma Treatment Options

The main treatment options are:

• Observation—Some benign, small, and without symptoms of gliomas or tumors located in inoperable locations can be recommended for observation.
• Surgery is often the first-line treatment for gliomas, with the goal of achieving maximal safe resection, where the largest amount of tumor is removed without causing significant neurologic deficits. For low-grade gliomas, surgery alone can sometimes be curative.

After surgery, pathologists examine the tumor tissue to understand its features and molecular makeup. This added step helps doctors outline an appropriate treatment.

“We go through a very elaborate process of diagnostics, which includes looking at it under the microscope through our pathology team,” Dr. Friedman explained to SurvivorNet.

WATCH: The Role of Surgery in Treating Gliomas

Radiation and chemotherapy are often needed after surgery because removing the tumor completely is usually not possible due to the tumor’s ability to spread into surrounding brain tissue.

• Radiation therapy uses high–energy X–rays to target and kill tumor cells. It is often used after surgery to target residual tumor cells.
• Chemotherapy – These medications kill or slow the growth of cancer cells. Chemotherapy can be used alongside radiation or following radiation and is often used in higher-grade tumors.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved some drug treatments, including temozolomide (Temodar), to help patients with this aggressive disease. Temozolomide is a chemotherapy drug patients can take after surgery and radiation therapy.

• Targeted therapy and immunotherapy are newer treatments designed to target specific genetic mutations in the tumor or to stimulate the immune system to fight the cancer. Their role in the treatment of gliomas is continuing to evolve.

Other FDA-approved drugs for treating glioblastoma include lomustine (Gleostine), intravenous carmustine (Bicnu), carmustine wafer implants, and Avastin (bevacizumab).

Avastin is a targeted drug therapy that blocks glioblastoma cells from requesting new blood vessels that feed and allow the tumor to grow.

The FDA approved Vorasidenib, an IDH inhibitor. It works by blocking the mutated enzyme, slowing tumor growth, and extending the time before disease progression. IDH mutant gliomas tend to grow more slowly and have a better prognosis than IDH wild-type gliomas.

Dr. Alexandra Miller, Director of the Neuro-Oncology Division at NYU Langone Health, tells SurvivorNet that Vorasidenib is a “huge breakthrough for people with IDH mutant tumors.”

WATCH: Vorasidenib for IDH Mutant Gliomas

“What I tell my patients is that we have these effective treatments, but what they do is they delay the time to when this tumor comes back. Only in exceptional circumstances would we ever talk about getting rid of one of these cancers a few,” Dr. Daniel Wahl, professor of radiation and oncology at the University of Michigan, tells SurvivorNet.

Ongoing Research Offers Hope

Fortunately, research is ongoing to improve the prognosis for people battling glioblastoma. One area of promise is tumor-treating fields, which can help extend patients’ lives by two years on average, giving them hope.

Optune, the brand name for the tumor-treating field delivery device, was launched in 2011 and approved by the FDA in 2015. It is a wearable and portable device for glioblastoma treatment for adult patients aged 22 years or older.

“There’s been a very exciting development of tumor treating fields, which are electrical fields that have been applied to the brain,” Dr. Suriya Jeyapalan, a neurologist at Tufts Medical Center, previously told Survivor Net.

TTFields use low-intensity electric fields to disrupt the cell division process, making it harder for cancerous cells to multiply.

WATCH: Using electric sources to improve glioblastoma treatment.

Despite Optune’s hope, not all cancer experts agree with its approach, including Dr. Friedman.

“Although the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recognizes Optune within its guidelines as a therapy for glioblastoma, many people don’t believe it adds value. At Duke, for example, we don’t consider it a mainstay of therapy,” Dr. Friedman said.

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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