Do you have a surgeon picked out? If not, go to several to see what combinations they usually do. Also, you may need to find a different surgeon for your face. For the body work it is important to find someone with experience with bariatric patients. For face work, it is not.

For me, money was an issue. I had my arms done first because I could hide everything else (I love wearing sleeveless shirts). Arms are relatively inexpensive to fix. I was not sure I would ever be able to afford anything else at the time. Fast forward a few years and I was fortunate to have an lbl and bl (at the same time). My legs are a hot mess, but I have made peace with them and will never get them fixed. In clothes I look good. I may get a face lift at some point, but I'm not sure.

then what you might want to start doing (now or within the next few months) is researching surgeons to figure out your best options so that when you're ready to schedule consults, you'll already have some shortlisted. It took me quite awhile to come up with my shortlist!! I started with realself.com. I also searched OH for names, too..

this is supposedly a complicated subspecialty, so ideally you want someone who does a truckload of these things, or better yet, specializes in it..

I did three consults, and their recommendations and suggested combinations were a bit different (well, two said they would do the LBL first, and then go from there). None of my consults liked doing surgeries more than six hours long, but some surgeons are fine with going longer than that - and some, much longer). You might want to schedule some consults now...or soon....as they'll clear up some of your questions and get you thinking about what you want to do. I'd suggest going on 3-5. You'll learn a lot from them. Plus I liked having multiple opinions. In my case, surgeon A's and surgeon B's plans were so different from each other that I scheduled a consult with surgeon C, too (who I ended up going with, so it's a good thing I did!) just because I had no idea whose plan was "better", so I wanted yet another opinion...

some surgeons don't charge for consults, and some charge a nominal amount - like $100 or $150 - and those who charge usually apply it to your surgery cost if you end up going with them.

Hi Gwen, and thanks for that detailed info! Much appreciated!

I'm not sure about implants, but I suspect they will be necessary from a truly reconstructive point of view. As things stand now, my ribs are on prominent display front and back, and my breasts are pretty darn deflated. Worse than when I stopped breast feeding, for sure! I don't want to have huge "I'm about to tip over" breasts, just attractive ones. I've been a D cup or bigger since forever, and still am, but it's not the same. So I'd like to stay either a full C or a small D, I think. I'm 5'8" and comfortable with that. I also prefer that they don't curve out to beyond my rib cage on the sides; to me that keeps me looking leaner. However, my mom had a bout of breast cancer, which she outlived by 16 years, passing away just shy of her 91st birthday, so I want to ensure I won't be increasing my risk. Lots to discuss in my consults!

That's what I've heard, too. I do want my thighs done but they can wait a bit - what's one more year as a shar-pei?