My FIL had his removed about five years before the big C finally took him away from us. it took him a little bit to adjust to life with a bag, but he did and managed quite well. The biggest thing I remember with him was he was always careful to eat his meals at the same time everyday. When he did this he had times when he could go without the bag and just put it on when he knew it was going to be needed.

You should already have a good idea of what foods upset your stomach and avoid them in order to minimize the ugly accidents.

I've had a couple of minor bouts of diverticulitis and thought I was dying. When they figured out what it was, the Doc told me, that when the intestines have problems, the whole body feels it. I could only imagine what it was like for you.