Hi Scott,
you say my bowel needs stretching/acclimating. Thanks for your suggestion about delaying bathroom trips to stretch it. I am trying to do that but whenever I feel it seeping through, I feel I have to go and clean up. There isn't much to come out usually at those times. Maybe I should just ignore the irritation and continue holding on (?) or just clean up and not have another bm (?) Regarding acclimating, I once read that the bowel's 'architecture' changes eventually and begins absorbing more fluid.
How is incontinence defined? No, I am just having leakage of small amounts. It seeps through and irritates. I don't have large amounts coming through now by accident. I tend to be able hold it in.
Finally, I would appreciate your comment on this: does the fact that I had a bag for 5 years mean that my sphincter muscles are still not strong enough to hold in the stool?
Thanks again.