A woman who battled mouth cancer and learnt to eat and breathe again became a pilot while undergoing treatment and says she feels “totally liberated”.<br /><br />Jackie Burch, 30, noticed a "sore" on her tongue in December 2019 and went to the doctor concerned. <br /><br />After pushing for a biopsy on the growth she was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma – a rare tongue cancer in April 2020.<br /><br />Jackie, originally from Orange County, California, underwent surgery to remove the growth in November 2020, and spent a week with a tracheostomy - an opening in the neck with a tube inserted to help you breathe.<br /><br />Two months later the growth returned, and Jackie pushed to have two further surgeries in January 2021 because she wanted "the best possible chance to live cancer free".<br /><br />Despite her ordeal, Jackie decided to learn to fly and started her training whilst still undergoing treatment.<br /><br />Now two years in remission, Jackie has obtained her pilot’s licence and loves to fly a light aircraft, built by her husband, Tobias Stein, 31.<br /><br />Jackie, a hotel host and former civil engineer based in Lucerne, Switzerland, said: "It was terrifying mentally and physically to go through it.<br /><br />"When the growth started coming back on my tongue again, I got really scared. <br /><br />However Jackie said flying has helped her feel liberated in spite of her cancer experience. <br /><br />Jackie met her husband, Tobias, a pilot, in December 2016 and discovered a passion for aviation after seeing he was building an aircraft in his house.<br /><br />But Jackie's training was halted when she discovered a growth on her tongue in December 2019.<br /><br />She went to her doctor in New Zealand, where she was living at the time, and had a biopsy which revealed she had precancerous cells on her tongue growth. <br /><br />She was told her to monitor it and on her return to the United States she started a course of steroid injections and pills to get rid of the lump. <br /><br />Jackie said: "I was like, this really hurts now. I need to have this removed." <br /><br />She had another biopsy in April 2020 which revealed she had squamous cell carcinoma. <br /><br />Jackie said: "It was crazy. It was silent and something just like completely changed. The doctor said I was one of only two people who have ever had this."<br /><br />Following her diagnosis and biopsy she underwent further scans and tests but in July 2020 her cancer returned.<br /><br />She had an hour long operation to remove the growth in November 2020 - including a neck dissection to test the lymph nodes for cancer.<br /><br />Jackie spent a week with a tracheostomy and had shoulder pain where her nerves were damaged.<br /><br />The couple had bought a hangar home to house their new aircraft - a bush airplane named ‘Pocahontas’ and a Cessna 150 – when Jackie relapsed.<br /><br />As soon as Jackie’s arm and shoulder had improved she started taking flying lessons again. <br /><br />Within a year she gained her private pilot’s license in March 25 2021 and began flying a small single engine piston aircraft. <br /><br />Jackie is now in remission but has been told there is a chance her cancer could return.
