Good Afternoon to all. I am new to all this and have been told about this forum by my breast care nurse.I was diagnosed with invasive lobular breast cancer in September and as a consequence had a bilateral mastectomy and a TUG flap reconstruction. I am hoping to hear from any one else that has been thru this procedure, I am finding it very hard to find anyone here in Australia. If anyone has had to operation and is willing to pass on some information about their experience I would greatly appreciate it.I do feel quite isolated as this type of plastic surgery seem to be very new.

@Tantrick @Cupcakes thanks so much for connecting with @Cafrini60. Nothing like connecting with women who have had the same op. Paula xxx

Hello, i had a DUG flap last year. Same as TUG but they cut the muscle diagonally. My photos are online also.I had nerve pain in my breasts but not in my thighs for a few weeks but now all resolved. Recently had my nipples done and a fat graft. That went well.Hope that helps,Cupcakes .

Brilliant and I am so glad you guys have connected and a huge thanks to everyone who has responded and to @jane221 for calling out to members of the reclaim your curves facebook page. I am just thrilled you now have a couple of people with similar surgeries to connect with.Paula

Hi @Cafrini60, the links from @primek are a great start. I actually think the photo story about a DUG flap is a misspelling and should be TUG Flap as it is a very similar procedure. You are right that TUG Flap surgery is less common and so it has been hard to capture these stories, so if you are willing, we would love to hear more about your experience (as I understand you have already had the procedure?) in the Choosing Breast Reconstruction group.A couple of other options to connect include joining the closed Reclaim Your Curves (breast reconstruction peer support) facebook group (which is run by the same admins as the reconstruction group in this network). This group is very active, with over 1300 members (mostly from Australia) and hopefully would help join you up with others who may have had the same surgery. To request to join the group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/reclaimyourcurves/ If you're not on, or don't want to join Facebook, I could ask the group on your behalf to see if anyone has had a TUG reconstruction and would be willing to contact you through this forum or otherwise.Also, was yours the first TUG procedure that your surgeon has done? If not, can the surgeon connect you with others s/he has operated on? I asked my surgeon about this before having my reconstruction in 2014 (when DIEPs were a bit less common) and they were very willing to put me in touch with a couple of previous patients. Hope this helps. Best wishes, Jane xx

Hi @Cupcakes, good to hear from you, hope all is well. Thanks for clarifying the difference between TUG and DUG, you learn something new every day! @Tantrick, you are awesome! Thanks for responding to my call out :smile:

TUG Flap Reconstruction | Online Network

SoldierCrab
Member
7 years ago
Hi Cafrini60

you might like to join this group
http://onlinenetwork.bcna.org.au/group/1-choosing-breast-reconstruction
Cafrini60
Member
7 years ago
Thank you for the prompt response. I have looked at those links about reconstruction but there is no mention of TUG flap 😩 I always seem to hit a wall. My surgeon chose this way as my abdomen was too thin, there must be others out there somewhere. I tried BCNA with suggestion from my breast nurse. Thanks for you help.
Patti_J
Member
7 years ago
@Cafrini60. Have you checked out the Cancer Council site?
SoldierCrab
Member
7 years ago
@Riki_BCNA
Do you know anyone ?
Riki_BCNA
Member
7 years ago
Hi @Cafrini60 the Cancer Council may be able to connect you with another woman who has had this procedure through their peer support program. Cancer Council can be contacted on 13 11 20 during business hours.
Cafrini60
Member
7 years ago
Thank you very much that is very helpful, it would be nice to talk to someone else, it has not all been smooth sailing.
primek
Member
7 years ago
There is definetely a lady in.our reconstruction group who has had a tug flap. This post discusses it

https://onlinenetwork.bcna.org.au/discussion/16489/introduction-reconstruction-or-not-tug-flap

https://onlinenetwork.bcna.org.au/discussion/5144/tug-and-gap-reconstructions

And photo stories of a dug flap.

https://onlinenetwork.bcna.org.au/discussion/17089/dug-flap/p1

Hope I'm of help.

Any ideas @mum2jj
Jane221
Member
7 years ago
Hi @Cafrini60, the links from @primek are a great start. I actually think the photo story about a DUG flap is a misspelling and should be TUG Flap as it is a very similar procedure. You are right that TUG Flap surgery is less common and so it has been hard to capture these stories, so if you are willing, we would love to hear more about your experience (as I understand you have already had the procedure?) in the Choosing Breast Reconstruction group.

A couple of other options to connect include joining the closed Reclaim Your Curves (breast reconstruction peer support) facebook group (which is run by the same admins as the reconstruction group in this network). This group is very active, with over 1300 members (mostly from Australia) and hopefully would help join you up with others who may have had the same surgery. To request to join the group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/reclaimyourcurves/
If you're not on, or don't want to join Facebook, I could ask the group on your behalf to see if anyone has had a TUG reconstruction and would be willing to contact you through this forum or otherwise.

Also, was yours the first TUG procedure that your surgeon has done? If not, can the surgeon connect you with others s/he has operated on? I asked my surgeon about this before having my reconstruction in 2014 (when DIEPs were a bit less common) and they were very willing to put me in touch with a couple of previous patients.

Hope this helps. Best wishes, Jane xx
Cafrini60
Member
7 years ago
Thank you very much for your interest in my query Jane. Yes I have already had my mastectomy and TUG flap reconstruction. My surgeon tells me that he has done this before but had not offered any names of previous patients.
As I am not on Facebook I would really appreciate it if, on my behalf you might be able to see if anyone is willing to talk about their experience. I am having issues at the moment with pins and needles and nerve pain in my mid thighs to my knees that is with me 24/7 and on top of the associated swelling and the chemo, all seems a bit too much.
If this is normal and will go away with time it gives me some hope.
You have helped me heaps, just trying to steer me in the right direction.
Jane221
Member
7 years ago
Glad I could help in some small way @Cafrini60. I will pop on to our Facebook group today and ask. I can't promise anything but fingers crossed someone will be able to help.

Has the surgeon said anything about the pins and needles / nerve pain and whether the chemo etc might be exacerbating it? In any case, there may well be something they can do to assist in relieving the symptoms.

Will get back to you asap if I hear anything from our group. Hang in there xx