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15.10.2019

Danny's Operation

Danny had surgery this morning. He had a tumor on one side of his backside and it hurt him if any pressure was applied so he would always sleep and rest on his left side. The vet wanted to operate about ten weeks ago but he said at that time Danny might not survive the surgery because of his lessened lung capacity (asthma and scarred lungs) and because he lost a lot of weight (about 20% over 6 months). The tumor hasn't grown in size and the vet doesn't know yet whether it is benign. Danny has gained only a tiny amount of weight these last 4 weeks although he is more interested in food than he was before (the vet gave him antibiotics and Danny used an inhaler with our help) every 2 or 3 days. He's had asthma since he was a baby. He'll be 12 in January. Tommy will be 12 in March.

The vet removed a large tumor and we sent it off to be analyzed. If it's benign all is well. If not he may need more treatments. The vet told us that after his operation Danny will wear "a suit" for a couple of weeks. This is in lieu of the "cone of shame" used to keep animals from licking or chewing their wounds. However, with another cat who might bother Danny's wound the "suit" was a better tool. Danny's "suit" is a thin compression-sock type of material open at both ends. It was hard for him to walk yesterday but today he is more skilled. The vet said it would take a few days for him to learn how to walk in his suit. John started referring to Danny as our little sock puppet which is pretty much what he looked like.

I was sure Tommy would see the suit and Danny's lethargy as a sign of vulnerability and would chase him or attack. I thought that the first few days Danny would need protection and I'd need to separate them when they were unsupervised. Not so. I spent the night in the living room with the boys and Tommy was patient and cooperative. He's a good brother.

Since he returned from the vet Danny has been eating a lot (he went without food for 20 hours). The vet didn't know if Danny would want to eat but just let him do what he wants for a day or two (and call the vet if there are complications).

Danny wearing his surgical recovery suit. Much better than the "cone of shame". Tommy in a box giving his brother some space. Poor Danny looks like a sock puppet.





21.10.2019

Today we learned that Danny has stage 3 fibrosarcoma (cancer).

The vet said we could get radiation and chemo in Paris but not anywhere in Brittany. He (and several animal health and vet web sites) also said the cancer is 95% likely to come back no matter what we do.

The vet didn't remove any stitches today because Danny hadn't healed enough. In 5-10 days the vet will remove them.

We are to feel the area of the tumor daily to monitor for a recurrence. If a recurrence occurs it is 90% likely to occur in the same spot but we should also check the rest of his body once a week for lumps.

Even before the surgery the vet explained that the tumor could have started due to a cut, bite or injection site wound. "Injection-site sarcomas (ISS) are also referred to as fibrosarcomas. They are mesenchymal tumors that are locally invasive and have a low to moderate chance of spreading to other sites (metastases). These tumors develop in areas where cats have received injections, mainly vaccines." The vet said if the tumor returns he can do another surgery.

Link on Feline Fibrosarcoma
"Before the 1990s, sarcomas with fusiform cells with cutaneous or subcutaneous locations were known to be rare in cats. They now form part of the most common, if not the most frequent tumors in cats both in France and abroad"

Here's a link to Q & A about feline fibrosarcoma.





27.10.2019

Trip to Grand-Fougeray

This was our first bus trip (think Greyhound) in France. Grand-Fougerey is 52 KM or 32 miles south of Rennes. The bus was three times as clean as any Greyhound bus I've been in. It had seat belts which surprised me. The trip took an hour with stops at 4 little villages on the way.

Every time we do any traveling outside of Rennes, John comments that he is always impressed by how green the surrounding farmland is. There are spots of forest and several small villages (under 3000 people).

John says the priority on visiting a new town is ALWAYS to find the public toilets. That's one of his super powers -- finding the nearest toilet. Now he has an app for that but Grand-Fougeray was too small of a town to include in it. So a ground search was needed (as in the pre-app days). A nice woman at the city hall gave directions to the public toilets. Wandering around we found 3 more. All very clean. A sign posted at all the sinks in the public bathrooms read, "Due to many incivilities with regard to good hygiene in toilets, a close monitoring will be carried out in order to denounce malicious people to justice." Wow.

Grand-Fougeray is small (population 2,500) with only 7 or 8 streets and a large pedestrian-only center of town. The cobble-stoned streets of Grand-Fougeray lead to twisty paths through half-timbered houses, more modern buildings and one large 12th Century church of Saint-Pierre-and-Saint-Paul which is part Romanesque and part Gothic. The church bells rang every half hour.

The interior of the old church was very dark, as you can see in the pictures below. It did not have the larger windows that come with higher ceilings that the older Gothic churches have. Still this smaller church was very peaceful as I sat for a few minutes while a couple of older women prepared the church for services on Sunday, the following day. The church has been in constant use for over 800 years. A priest who managed the church during the Nazi occupation is buried under the floor.

The town of Grand-Fougeray is surrounded by forest which is surrounded by farmland. On the edge of the little town is a large park called the Parc de la Tour du Guesclin. In the center of the park is a small lake and the La Tour Duguesclin. The tower is all that remains of the castle that belonged to Bertrand du Guesclin, a Breton noble, constable of France and Castile, a very important character of the first part of the Hundred Years War. La Tour de Guesclin still stands tall and is well preserved. It is essentially a medieval 6 story building and something to see. The tower is next to a restaurant where the outdoor patio provides diners with a great view of the tower and the lake.

John and I plan to return to Grand-Fougeray next August for their expansive Renaissance festival and we'll try out the restaurant then.

A trail circumnavigated the lake which was filled with ducks. Along the trail, the tower was always in sight. Parents with kids were making the trek around the lake. We also saw many dog walkers. From the base of the tower the sight of blackbirds swirling overhead went on for hours. I don't know why they do that.

There were at least 30 signs in front of trees describing the species. John was pleased and impressed with how green everything was. No wildfires in this part of France!

The whole area and all the buildings were beautiful. Even the grounds keeper's little tool shed was picturesque.

Below are links to videos about the Grand-Fougeray Renaissance Fairs in 2018 and 2016:

Fête médiévale du grand Fougeray 2018 - Le choc des époques ! This one shows the inside of the tower towards the end.

The Renaissance Fair in 2016 Fête Médiévale de Grand Fougeray 2016

Here are some links to information about Grand-Fougeray They are in French so if you need to translate use https://translate.google.com/ or use Google chrome and right click on the page to select translate to English (or you preferred language).

Wikipedia Grand-Fougeray

Château de Grand-Fougeray

Bertrand du Guesclin

The priority on visiting a new town is ALWAYS to find the public toilets. The church of Saint-Pierre-and-Saint-Paul can be seen through this cobble-stoned street. You can see how local stones were used in the construction of this 12th century church.
This bell tower rang the bells every half hour. I wonder what a 12th Century peasant felt like looking up at such a tall structure. The public square of Grand-Fougeray was centered on the church of
Saint-Pierre-and-Saint-Paul.
There was a market on the day of my visit. The Roman arch is evident on this side entrance to the church. There was another memorial to the World War I dead inside the church.
These pointed arches are examples of Gothic architecture from the 12th Century. The small windows made this
a very dark church. 		The centuries old stain-glass was wonderful.
The church was very compact reflecting the population of this small village
in the middle ages. 		The view from the back of the church. This priest survived the Nazi occupation and was buried in the church.
The floor had mosaics patterns. The church had a few tiny passageways. The barrel vaulted ceiling can be dimly seen in this dark church.
The streets of Grand-Fougeray snaked out from the central square around the church. The Hotel De Ville (city hall) was a mixture of old and new. The people there were very helpful with my questions. Grand-Fougeray was surrounded forest which was surrounded by farmland.
The first view of La Tour Duguesclin was over the French restaurant. The patio of the restaurant gave the customers a great view of the tower. The well in front of the tower was within the original castle walls.
The tower is essentially a medieval
6 story building. 		The tower is central to a beautiful, lush park with a lake and lots of ducks. Here's John touching a 13th Century
French castle.
At the base looking up. The narrow windows are arrow slits for defense. There were lots of mushrooms. The soil appeared to be very rich. Greenery everywhere!
The coat of arms of the Guesclin family can be seen above the window. The restaurant seen from the tower base. A flock of blackbirds soared around the top of the tower for hours.
A trail hugged the lake. Some parts
were a little swampy. 		This bridge was over a little stream running
from one lake to another. 		Too tiny to see in this pic,
but there were lots of ducks.
Even the little shed for the groundskeeper's tools was picturesque. There were 30 of these little signs in front of trees describing the species. This one is for an American Oak. The little bench in the middle is where I stopped for my lunch.
Following the trail, the tower was
always in sight. 		Here's the view of the tower from
across the lake. 		I like this pic of the restaurant's reflection
in the lake.
The door of the La Tour Duguesclin. Another view of the tower. The richness of the plant life can be seen in how green this grass is.
Sign posted at the sinks in the public bathrooms. "Due to many incivilities with regard to good hygiene in toilets, a close monitoring will be carried out in order to denounce malicious people to justice." A "box of books" along the trail for
a free book exchange. 		There were a few giant windmills on the bus ride back to Rennes.





28.10.2019

Danny had his surgical recovery suit removed. His wound is very long and a bit disconcerting to look at. Our poor little baby boy. Tommy is very sweet and respectful but I think Danny has taken that (and our fulfilling Danny's every want to the point that he thinks he's royalty) as a sign of weakness. He's been biting at and on Tommy and spitting out black fur almost everyday since his recovery. Kids. What can you do? We try to keep them well supervised in this time of crisis.

Danny had his surgical recovery suit removed. Here's a picture of his wound. Tommy in all his majesty. Danny's good side.





31.10.2019

John and I headed out to the Old Center of Town for Halloween when I got a text that my laptop had been repaired. Because tomorrow is Dia de los Muertos, which is La Toussaint in France (another religious national holiday in this land of strict laïcité) the computer store would be closed for four days. So we detoured two blocks to pick it up.

Our neighborhood is wonderful. Everything is so close to our home and a lot of stores and facilities are within walking distance. Every need is at least within a short bus ride.

On our way to the computer store we saw one of the mini-billboards which Rennes recently installed to beautify the main traffic streets. It was of a big-eyed spooky owl. We thought that was appropriate for Halloween. On the way back home from the computer store we met a cute little black cat/Halloween kitty who posed for us as we took pics for several minutes. So cute.

Paris Halloween

We had planned and made reservations to go to Paris yesterday and to spend Halloween in the catacombs, famous cemeteries and at a spooky event or two. Paris does Halloween big time now (which is a big change from 2 decades ago). We were going to be gone for 3 days. We canceled the trip when we saw the extent of Danny's surgery. We thought it was too soon to leave him alone with his feisty brother for 3 days but Tommy's been a little angel since Danny's surgery.

Next year our friends Ric, Tammy and Miles (whom John and I met 20 years ago in San Diego) from Boston hope to visit us at Halloween and take a trip to Paris with us.

Here are some good links about Halloween in Paris if you want to start planning your trip for next year:

13 tips to celebrate Halloween in Paris.

Celebrate Halloween in Paris

Halloween à Paris 2019

Halloween 2019 : Dia De Los Muertos au Cabaret Sauvage

John and I are going to meet our Nice friends Doc and Marion in Paris for two days in January to see the Da Vinci exhibit at the Louvre. It's from October 24, 2019 to February 24, 2020. The exhibit brings Da Vinci's art to Paris from around the world.

John tells me dozens of interesting stories about almost anything we do. Recently he told me about the French King who gave the aging Da Vinci a small castle in return for Da Vinci's new creations. And Da Vinci going from Italy to France with the Mona Lisa strapped to a donkey. And so many other tales. John is a cool person to hang with. Lucky me.

Louvre launches blockbuster Da Vinci exhibition, 500 years after his death

Louvre Exhibition Leonardo da Vinci

Maybe the Salvator Mundi will be on display. The exhibit opened a week ago and as of today the deal to show the Salvator Mundi at the Louvre has not been finalized. But the negotiations continue.

Louvre in push to display 'missing' Da Vinci (Salvator Mundi)

Rennes recently installed these mini-billboards to beautify a main traffic street. We thought this was appropriate for Halloween. We met this cute little Halloween kitty on our way home from the computer store.