Thank you so very much to those of you that took the time to reply. It gave me the information that I was looking for at this point which was basically the answer to the question, do I give it a shot, or do I just resign myself to living with the bag for the rest of my life? I was leaning towards the surgery because life with the bag has been less than ideal for me. Now I'm hopeful, almost anxious, to have the surgery. I'll hope for the best outcome, and get on with my life.
I do have a few questions from some of your posts if anyone wants to answer. I could probably Google answers, but know you guys will answer in the right context.
1) What is "butt burn" and how do I avoid it? Is it like diaper rash?
2) What are cuffitis and pouchitis?
3) Am I correct in assuming that a "toilet seat bidet" replaces a regular toilet seat and has a water feed of some sort like a sitz bath? I don't think I have room to install a bidet.