Support Ron Rebovich's Battle Against Cancer

Hello Family and Friends,

My name is Kimberly Rebovich (Burnham).

As many of you know, my husband Ron Rebovich was just recently diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Tongue and Mouth on August 2, 2024.

The diagnosis came as a complete shock.

Ronnie is in the rare 1% of people who did not smoke or chew tobacco and who doesn't have a family history of cancer & yet ended up with this type of cancer.

Ronnie bit his tongue a few months ago, and it wasn't healing. He thought he had an infection & went to urgent care and was prescribed antibiotics. They worked temporarily, but the infection returned. The doctor prescribed a couple more rounds of antibiotics, but it didn't get any better, in fact it started to get worse.

He then went to see an Oral Surgeon who didn't like the way his tongue looked during his consultation/examination and suggested Ron have a biopsy, which he did on July 29, 2024.

On August 2, 2024 the results came back and Ron was diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Tongue and Mouth.

He was then referred to a Head and Neck Surgical Oncologist at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland.

During his examination/evaluation with the oncologist, she said that Ron would need to have surgery and they would be removing 3/4 of his tongue, because he has a cancerous growth on his tongue and would need reconstructive surgery to have a flap put in place of his tongue.

The oncologist scheduled an MRI and Cat Scan & the results revealed that he has a left oral tongue mass which crosses the midline and measures 6cm in size and the cancer has spread to the left floor of his mouth and to the lymph nodes on the left side of his neck.

A Cat Scan was ordered & we‘re waiting for his insurance to approve the test.

Once the exam is completed and the results are back, we can move forward with scheduling the surgery.

We are hoping surgery will be scheduled in the next few weeks in early September.

Ronnie is looking at about 2 to 4 weeks recovery time & he will need to have speech therapy and physical therapy to help him learn to eat, chew, swallow and talk with his new tongue. Ronnie's treatment plan will also include him undergoing 6 to 7 weeks of 5-day per week radiation treatments and possibly Chemotherapy.

God willing, we hope he will be back to his new normal, as they like to say, by Christmas & that would be an incredible gift.

His prognosis is favorable, but he has a long road ahead of him, but he has an incredible medical team to help and guide us through the process. He also has all the faith, love and support from our family and friends & we are very thankful for all your support.

Ron is a strong, hardworking, kind and generous man. He is always there to help anyone he can in any way he can. Ron has always been a proud man and he wasn't thrilled about us needing to ask people for help. During the surgery, recovery & radiation treatments he will be out of work. This will likely be a period of several months.

Many Family and Friends were asking how they can help. We are starting this gofundme page to help ease the burden of medical expenses and travel to and from Johns Hopkins and other expenses during this time.

If you or anyone you know, would like to donate, we would greatly appreciate your contribution. If you are unable to donate, please send us positive thoughts and prayers for Ron’s successful recovery.

We cannot begin to tell you how much Ron and I appreciate all the support, thoughts, prayers, positive vibes & love we have received from everyone thus far.

Thank you so much for your kindness and your generosity.

We truly appreciate your support during this challenging time for us.