Hi Brownbagger!
If I didn't laugh about these things, I'd cry, Brownbagger.
I was diagnosed with rectal cancer last March. While the lesion didn't seem to have grown through the bowel wall, it had found its way down into my anus. That, together with the fact that I'd had a long history of ulcerative colitis, made the next step clear: A total procto-colectomy. I was operated on March 26th and a few days later got the good news that the cancer had been confined - no adjacent tissue or lymph node involvement - as was suspected at first. I was staged as IIA and consider myself one very lucky guy from what I now know of the presentation rates for rectal cancer. Of the costs, the permanent ileostomy is the one of which I'm most frequently reminded, of course. And the bag, always full of exciting potential.
I've used both one and two-piece bags and have had accidents with both types. As I think I mentioned once before, I found using the paste with the one piece bags a bit daunting. I prefer the two-piece but if they come even close to overfilling, you're in for a juggling episode should they pull loose. I have ten cats and keeping them from satisfying their curiosity about a failed juggle is a challenge in its own right. But what I find most problematic is a squirting stoma as the juggle proceeds. Compared to that, the cats are childsplay.
I do think its wise to keep things in perspective about such things as ostomy bags, however. They are a small price to pay for your life (he says as he cleans a brown mass off the side of the mattress).