(Sorry for info overload and likely confusion; there's been a flurry of activity the past week or so.)
So... things weren't doing as well as we thought.
A few new tumors popped up (again near the outer part of the eye, so not doing much for long-term damage) and they responded well to treatment.
However, the oldest tumor, which has always been an issue to some extent, is not responding well to treatments. Before this round of treatment was even started, the process was underway to head to New York, hopefully for intra-arterial chemotherapy.
So, it made for a chaotic week. Monday was the exam and Tuesday was the first contact with Memorial Sloan Ketterling Cancer Center. We were told to head there as soon as possible, but had to wait for insurance to approve first... which happened the following day. Then it was a fight with insurance to cover the trip- in fact, they drug their feet long enough for us to eat the cost instead (and obviously won't reimburse, either). Throw in submitting papers after closing and a holiday weekend, and we had no idea what was going on until Tuesday morning.
Enough BS with the insraunce coverage meant Marie and her brother bought tickets outright, and were on their way to New York with CJ. First plane trip with all of them; some turbulence, some icky weather along the way, but overall not bad (and CJ was complimented on how well he handled the flight... no surprise from our happy little socialite.)
Now that CJ's in New York, he's had his first EUA with those doctors and had more laser treatment, with some dye injection to help the tumors eat up the laser more readily. We've also learned that the tumors are classified Group A (left) and Group B (right), which means that enucleation is off the radar at this point..
Since nothing has gone smoothly so far, the trend continues with the realization the hospital did not file for pre-authorization with the insurance. As of writing, the hospital is proceeding with the treatment anyway (since it's their fault)... but not certain when since this was decided after regular office hours today.
And so, more will come as the saga continues.