Hi Mike,
i am very sorry to hear of CRC diagnosis.
I live in south Florida so that is my only point of reference for recommendations. If i had a do over I would have sought out a center of excellence outside Florida, where they do a ton a these.
I would never choose a permanent bag. 13 weeks of the miserable loop ileostomy confirmed that choice. I hated every minute of that bag!
as I have posted multiple times here, surgery is a guarantee of nothing. You won’t know how your body functions with the pouch until you have it. I have been told it could take up to a year for everything to settle down. I have also been told it might never.
in my very humble opinion I think you should try the pouch.
My mother in law had it as a one step in 2004 at age 69
now in 2021 at age 86 she is still pouching away with a great outcome, eats everything and drinks alcohol and goes 6-8 times per day. Although I have a different outcome so far, I would still choose the pouch over bag every time.
you would not want to look back and say ‘why didn’t I try it.’
good luck and let me know if I can be of help in any way.
Eric