Former ‘American Idol’ contestant Jax reflects on health crisis

A singer/song writer from Middlesex County who rose to fame on "American Idol" is now battling a health crisis. Twenty-year-old Jax says that making music has taken on a new meaning for her. She says

News 12 Staff

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Aug 18, 2016, 4:42 AM

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Updated 3,072 days ago

A singer/song writer from Middlesex County who rose to fame on "American Idol" is now battling a health crisis.

Twenty-year-old Jax says that making music has taken on a new meaning for her. She says that it has become therapeutic while she recovers from thyroid cancer.

"I was grocery shopping with my parents. And I had felt a lump in my throat and I was like, does anybody think this is weird? Should we go check this out?" she says.

The singer from East Brunswick says that she had 18 tumors and 12 of them tested positive for cancer. She's now undergoing radiation treatments after doctors removed her thyroid.

Jax, who released her song "La La Land" following a third-place finish on season 14 of "American Idol", says she was worried how surgery would affect her vocal cords.

"At first it was scary because I was reaching to get to certain places that would come naturally before the surgery, but I feel like every day I'm getting better and better," she says.

Jax is planning concerts for later this year. She is also beginning songwriting sessions with collaborators, and also plans to release new music.

She says that the health crisis may have also been a blessing in disguise.

"I clearly needed to stop for a minute to take a break and breath. And I never allow myself to do so," she says.

Jax is also training to run the New York Marathon to raise money for the charity Tuesday's Children.