My father was 70 when he was diagnosed with bladder cancer and underwent removal of his bladder. We were sitting at his home one day, he reached down to feel his urostomy bag to see if it needed to be emptied and stated "what a way to live." My mother looked at him, smiled and stated to him "sure beats the alternative." He would have died if he had not agreed to live with "bag of urine" hanging on his side. That was four years ago, unfortunately my mother passed away from primary peritoneal cancer earlier this year and though his life has changed, we would not trade that bag of urine for one day without him.