How Chad Borja beat cancer with a healthy lifestyle

It is so easy to get fixated on dynamic singer Chad Borja.  He unwittingly brings his savvy onstage when he performs, while his subtle sex appeal charms every woman in the audience when he croons his love songs, leaving them mesmerized and in love with love or with him.  He has a powerful voice, a stage presence that is not noticed at first sight until you realize that you are slowly but surely getting enthralled by his style and his voice. He is the kind of guy that men love to hate but can’t because even they are charmed by him as well.  

Not many people know that the climb to success and health was a long and winding road for this singer.  The early demise of his father left him and his six siblings to fend for themselves at an early age and the family was in dire straits most often than not. His musical ambition had to be put in the freezer because his mother, the sole bread winner of the family, could not afford the tuition. Accounting was the cheaper recourse so he really had not much of a choice.  But music was so ingrained in his DNA and his talent had to surface somehow.  He had to pursue his dream so the young Chad Borja joined a band in 1984 in Cebu, his hometown.  In 1986, he joined the New Minstrels Band (4th Edition) in Manila and stayed with them till 1989.  By then, he decided to go back to Cebu and join the Zee Band with whom he performed locally and in other countries like Guam, Singapore, Malaysia, and Jakarta.

In 1991, he decided to embark on a solo career and had a lot of success performing with the country’s top singing divas — Regine Velasquez, Kuh Ledesma, Jaya, Pilita Corrales, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Rachel Alejandro, among others. He also performed with International artists Kevyn Lettau, Yutaka Yokokura, Lee Ritenour, Abraham Laboriel, Greg Karukas, Michael Paolo, and Dave Grusin. 

Fast forward to 1997 when he had a singing tour in the US with Kuh Ledesma.  He recalls jogging on Venice beach one morning and felt exhausted after a few meters. “I usually run for at least an hour before I break a sweat. But this time, I felt something was wrong. I finished all the legs of our tour, but I had to see a doctor in LA and Reno. Both gave me antibiotics, but nothing worked. I felt feverish all the time. After two months, back in Cebu, I consulted our family doctor, but my condition did not improve. Finally, I flew to Manila and consulted a doctor at Cardinal Santos who advised me to have an MRI. They found a cold nodule in my throat.  The biopsy showed it was malignant. I had another biopsy to make sure of the results and again, it was malignant.  The tumor was classified as papillary carcinoma or thyroid cancer. I was advised to undergo surgery asap!”

Papillary carcinoma is the most common type of thyroid cancer, in fact, about 80% of thyroid cancers are papillary carcinoma. It usually appears as an irregular or solid cystic mass that comes from otherwise normal thyroid tissue.  The cancer has a high cure rate, almost 100%, for small lesions.  In more than 50% of cases, it spreads to the lymph nodes of the neck.  It is usually more common in females than males by 3:1 ratio and the peak onset ages are 30 to 50 years old (Source: EndocrineWeb by Dr. James Norman). Chad Borja was 32 years old when it hit him and his symptoms were feeling feverish all the time, difficulty in singing, brittle hair, fatigue, dry skin, and weight gain (hypo-thyroid). 

Chad Borja did not right away have his surgery because he was ill advised by some fortunetellers in the industry who warned him that something bad would happen to him if he did.  But a chance encounter with Coney Reyes who uplifted him with inspirational words strengthened his faith and removed his fears. He proceeded with his surgery a week after meeting her. His surgeon, Dr. Ramon de Jesus, knowing that singing was his profession, took extra care not to touch or damage the superior laryngal nerve (voice box), which lies directly behind the thyroid gland. If damaged, he could lose his voice, like what reportedly happened to Julie Andrews. 

After his surgery, he had radioactive iodine treatment.  After two years of battling the disease, he decided to resume his singing career in 2000 and had regular singing engagements. But then, in 2002, he decided he did not want to continue his singing career.  He lost his self-confidence as hypothyroid kicked in and made him gain a lot of weight.  In addition, the fear of his thyroid cancer recurring because of the stress of performing was foremost in his mind.  Stress is the number one enemy of cancer. 

He did not sing for 10 years, during which time he decided to change his lifestyle completely to beat cancer and to prevent it from recurring. He reveals the secret to the good health he’s now enjoying:

“I was in bed by 8 p.m., woke up at 4 a.m. to pray, meditate, and do yoga outdoors in front of the trees.  I read that trees have magical healing powers and I believe in this.  

“I jogged at least three times a week, I jumped rope, and ran on the treadmill. I also took up golf, and I encouraged my two daughters, Gabrielle Marie and Rafaela, to learn the sport.  My younger daughter Rafaela is training to be a professional golfer. 

“As for my diet, I became a vegetarian.  I ate a lot of vegetables and fruits, and gave up meat, alcohol, and sweets as they feed cancer cells.  

“More importantly, I learned to spend time with my family.  My wife Emy and our two daughters are my treasures in life.

“I  continued to have my regular checkup to monitor my health with Dr. Ramon de Jesus and my endocrinologist till the present time, Dr. Augusto Litonjua. I continued my hobby of building and selling houses to earn a living. I enjoyed it and did not give me the stress that performing did.” 

The healthy lifestyle paid off as in 2012, his doctor gave him a clean bill of health! He was totally healed and cancer-free!  

“I decided to give singing another shot because it is really what I love to do,” says Chad.  “I decided to have a pictorial with Jun de Leon who refused to take my picture unless I lost 15-20 lbs. I started a stricter regimen — I gave up rice and did more exercise. After 45 days, I lost all the weight that Jun wanted me to lose and we had my pictorial.”

These days, Chad Borja is still following his healthy lifestyle regimen of early to bed and early to rise, when he has no singing engagements with his two singing groups, the Hit Men, which specializes in OPM, and the New Minstrels Divos, whose repertoire consists of old favorites.  He lives a charmed life in Davao with his wife and two daughters in a house surrounded by trees. He has a thriving real estate business, which he enjoys.  He is no longer a strict vegetarian as he has incorporated seafood in his diet. Golf and exercise are part of his daily schedule.  

Is he bitter that God gave him cancer? 

He replies, “Not at all. Cancer was a humbling experience and changed my perception of life completely. I learned to seek God and pray. I was faced with my own mortality and realized that life is so precious, that health is wealth.  I learned to love nature and appreciate God’s creations.  I learned to appreciate the small things in life, spend more time with my family, and show them my love. I learned to hug my mom and tell her I loved her, which I never did before. Most importantly, I also learned to detach myself from materialism because I realized that material things are not important to one’s happiness.”