TEEN-AGER GRANTED 3 WISHES : GROUP SENDS YOUTH ON SHOPPING SPREE.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

Chad Robbins saw his longtime wish to hang 10 start to come true Saturday.

After a few minutes at Perfect Balance Surf & Ski, the 17-year-old from Simi Valley had the surfboard and other surfing gear paid for and ready to go.

It helped that he had everything he wanted neatly listed with its price on a piece of paper - a list he had compiled after meeting with a ``wish granter'' from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Tri-Counties.

Chad, who graduates from Royal High School on Tuesday, has acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which is now in remission. The trip to the surf shop was just the first leg of a spree that would take him to three other places Saturday.

``If I have enough time I'll go (surfing) right now,'' said Chad, proudly holding the 7-foot 2-inch used surfboard he had picked out. ``If somehow we finish early today, then I'll get out there. But I'm going Wednesday for sure.''

The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes to terminally ill youngsters. Though Chad's leukemia is in remission, he still got his shopping spree to buy the surfing gear, as well as bowling equipment and camping gear.

``If they're referred before they're 18 and into remission we're thrilled,'' said Melody Johnston, one of the two wish granters who accompanied the teen-ager on his spree. ``We don't take their wishes away from them.''

Chad was diagnosed in June 1993 after he went to see a doctor about a persistent cough and for some strange red spots that had appeared on his legs.

``When (the doctor) told me, it was like blank - I didn't know what it was and I said, OK,'' Chad said. ``Then he explained it to me and I said, oh God

''

He began a grueling regimen of chemotherapy and other treatment, and about a month later, doctors told him the cancer was in remission. The treatments continue, though with less frequency.

He is now about seven months into the five-year cancer cure period. Traditionally, if cancer doesn't recur during those five years the patient is declared cured.

While being treated at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, Chad was told about Make-A-Wish by a social worker assigned to his case.

At first he asked for a trip to Australia.

``I wanted to go diving in the Great Barrier Reef,'' he said. But Make-A-Wish officials said they couldn't send him so far away, he said.

Then he asked for Jet Skis - and again struck out. ``They told me I couldn't do that either because they're liable if I get hurt.''

In January, foundation representatives came to his Alexander Street home for another round of wish-making.

``They were there all night because I couldn't think of anything,'' he said with a chuckle.

He finally settled on a list of three wishes: a shopping spree, a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., and a ski trip to Alaska.

Chad will be a novice on the surfboard, never having hit the waves until Memorial Day, when he took a lesson in preparation for his spree.

``I've always wanted to do it and since I had my wish, I figured I could get my board and try it,'' he said.

Still, he played it safe and chose a good used board so he could give the sport a try without too much expense. If it turns out he doesn't like it, he can always sell the board, he said.

But on Saturday, all he could think of was hitting the waves of Ventura County's beaches. Posing for pictures with his new surfboard, he took comments about his healthy appearance with good humor. ``I'm very healthy. You'd never know I was sick,'' he said.

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Photo: Chad Robbins, 17, who suffers from acute lymphoblast ic leukemia, gets a surfboard courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News