My bowel has a very low IQ

I had an LAR in May, 2004. After all this time trying to retrain my bowel I realized that the part that they removed was the brain for bowels (30cms, but who counts these things?)
Everything that is recommended here works to some degree or another. It is fantastic advice.
Oftentimes I have been buoyed by it.

At the end of the day I had two choices to slow the NASCAR speed of my colon: a. Stop eating or b. Stop worrying. I would recommend a little bit of both. When I went to small meals now and then it did work. When I went to malls now and then I didn't always have to face the men's room somewhere. (I don't frequent ladies rest rooms, but all the men on here know what the base of a busy, graffitti-filled, soggy TP cornered commode stall looks like. It's a great appetite killer).

I think the docs should tell us it will take a couple of years to get back to normal in some cases. If I had lowered my expectations some I would have enjoyed a few more things, like sitting in the middle of a movie theater instead of the aisle near the door.

It does get better, it does get fixed and life does go on, but it is never the same again. That's something we all must embrace isn't it? I make my living wearing a black robe, sitting in front of a lot of different people, and the media on occasion. I have considered many times how I was going to exit my chair gracefully and a few times I haven't planned too well. I blamed my colon, but now I realize I should have pitied the poor lobotomized thing.

"No man is rich enough to buy back his past" I believe Oscar Wilde wrote. I would add: "No man is patient enough to re-train his bowel."
Our group has far outpaced all the other chat groups, even breast cancer. I thank each of you for your past and ongoing support for the rest of us. I have referred lots of folks to this site.