Using these much narrower devices, surgeons can staple tissue back together instead of sewing it. While that's not without its risks, it does succeed very well most of the time, and some people who would previously have had to have an ostomy don't need one. Other interesting techniques involve ways that the remaining bowel can be manipulated and reattached to the anus so that the patient is still continent, still has the same pathway for waste that was there before, without having an ostomy. Certainly the people I know who have ostomies are very well adjusted to them and they tell me they can do everything they did before, but one has to want to do it. It doesn't need to interfere with sexual activity or sports or most activities.
Most people adapt well.
According to the National Cancer Institute, about 15 percent of patients will become ostomates. So, not only can physicians decrease the amount of cancer to be removed, they can also be much more precise about where the cancer is, whereas previously they had to take out bigger pieces of the colon or rectum to be sure of getting it all. A lot of what is called pelvic exenteration had at one time to be done. Once the tumor breaches the wall of the bowel and begins to attach to other structures, even if it has not invaded them, many doctors take these organs out for safety's sake. So there can be less and less tissue left after surgery the farther disease has advanced before diagnosis.