Goodbye,Trisha

Patricia "Trisha" Borromeo, ramp model and daughter of former Miss Philippines Myrna Panlilio-Borromeo and the late Dr. Ramon Borromeo, was a portrait of courage till she succumbed to cancer of the lymph nodes at 4:30 p.m. yesterday at Delos Santos Hospital in Quezon City.

Trisha was rumored to be dying of cancer early last year, but disproved all rumors when she appeared in the bridal finale of Rhett Eala’s fashion show with a Mia Farrow cropped hairdo.

It was early last year that Trisha was diagnosed to have non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the same disease that Jackie Kennedy Onassis died of.

"It started as a little chest pain that felt like a heartburn," Trisha said in an exclusive interview with The STAR’s Life section last July. "I’d have a hard time sleeping because I’d be coughing."

A biopsy done on her by Makati Medical Center doctors revealed that she had a mass, as big as her fist, that was latched on to her heart.

Inspired by the story of actress Suzanne Sommers, herself battling cancer, Trisha tried alternative medicine while undergoing chemotherapy. Quite a health buff, she combined homeopathy and western medicine on top of her "absolutely no red meat and no white sugar" diet. Likewise, cancer did not stop her from doing what she most loved doing, like teaching at her TEA (The Early Academy) House in Makati City, a playschool for kids aged one year and five months. Trisha also wanted to do volunteer work for children with cancer. She dreamed of getting married and raising kids of her own.

Trisha requested that her remains be cremated immediately. She was cremated last night. Her family, which includes her mother and two siblings RJ and Mitzi, is holding a wake at Santuario de San Jose in Greenhills, San Juan.