Where to begin

 This week was my one year anniversary.  Since my initial consult I have lost 200 pounds, about 170 since the surgery itself.  I am not at my goal weight yet but I'm pretty close and I am in the beginning stages of researching plastic surgery.  For those of you who have done this where did you begin your research?  I feel like there is so much misinformation out there that I just don't know what to believe anymore.  

I know I'm probably at least a year away from PS but I would really like to start doing my research now so I can jump on it when the time is right.  Any insight from any of you would be very helpful.

 Congrats on your weight loss! With that super success you might not be as far off as you think from having PS done.

I applaud your choice to start researching now. I reccommend going back at least 6months and reading most of the posts from this board. You'll hear about doctors, complications, pricing. You'll learn about surgeries styles and techniques and gain insight into what you'll need to make recovery easier. By reading the past posts, you can come up with a great list of questions that you can use on all your potential surgeons.  Plus, you will see lots of before and after photos that will really help you to see what can (and cannot) be accomplished with plastic surgery.  

I would also reccommend  checking out realself.com. You can read reviews from patients who have had the surgeries and see some photos. My favorite part is reading the questions and answers section the procedures where surgeons take the time to answer patients inquiries. You see alot of answers from different surgeons and start to get a real good idea of how different docs do different things. Once you find a doctor you are interested in, you can read ALL of his/her answers to get a super good feel for the surgeon's views and style. My own surgeon answered over 350 questions there and I read them all prior to contacting him.

You probably already know but the most common surgeries for MWL patients are:

Lower Body Lift (LBL) or 
Tummy Tuck or Extended Tummy tuck (TT) (ETT) aka Pannectomy

Breast Lift (BL) - you have a variety of methods to choose from

Breast Augmentation - once lifted, you may choose to have help filling out the area

Thigh Lift - this addresses the inner thigh (medial, vertical, or I even read about a spiral method)

Arm Lift aka Brachioplasty

There are plenty of other surgeries that can be done but I think that these are the most talked about ones.  Hope I didnt miss any. I am sure someone else will point it out if I did!

Good luck in your journey!

Quite a while ago I read on here, or someone told me - I can't remember,  that Surgeons  don't like doing, and some don't anymore, inner thigh lifts because there are a lot of issues regarding the healing process.  Is that what you have heard too, or is that inaccurate?  Does the LBL not address inner thighs too?

 The LBL does not address the inner thigh.  If you sort of grab hold on both sides of your hips and lift up and look in the mirror, this is the skin that moves up on your butt, outer thighs and hips.  Grab the stomach area and lift again. Same thing with the mons (if your surgeon addresses that area in the LBL, some don't).  The LBL also pulls down the tissue/skin from the ribcage towards the incision site.

Not all doctors do all procedures. The inner thigh lift is a difficult procedure and takes great finesse. The scars have a tendency to migrate out of the bikini line area over time due to the tension on the skin and the effects of gravity.  It is one of the reasons why it is so important to choose a surgeon that specializes in WLS patients. Our skin is usually less resiliant and more skill is needed to make sure we have good results.  The inner thigh lift can also be difficult to heal due to the wound location, the need for patient movement and the tension on the skin. It is still very doable - just check out some of the photos of the folks on the board who had it done.

Raven,
You are a wealth of information!! You rock

I asked my bariatric surgeon for the name of 3 plastic surgeons that do good work on formerly obese patients

Then, I had a consult with each one and chose the surgeon that I felt most comfortable with -- he was not the cheapest.

I did my arms/breast lift first -- because my arms bothered me the most.
I was not sure if I would have anything else done.

Now, I am scheduled for a tt in March (I hate my thighs, but don't like the tummy even more -- and hope that the tt will help the thighs a little).

The LBL is just too much surgery for me, personally

Each surgeon that I interviewed gave me a written quote that was good for 6 months --- so it may not be too soon for you to starting looking around soon.

 Kath,  i found the LBL to be less painful than my breasts.  The incisions under my breasts seem to be taking longer to heal.  Other than being careful to not turn in ways that can open the LBL incisions, it hasn't been the tough part of my surgery.

The LBL addresses the outer thighs really well.  I had a lot of lipo as that was a big problem area for me.  Im very happy with my results so far.  I'm a month out today.