At 28 years old, Breeanna Meunier had accomplished two master’s degrees and was a teacher. But weighing over 300 pounds, she felt like her weight was holding her back from living her life.

“I didn’t think surgery was an option. It turns out it was,” Meunier said. “So, I took things into my own hands and decided to do something about it.”

Meunier chose to have bariatric bypass surgery in 2019 and put her faith in the skilled hands of the Bariatric Surgery team at UC Davis Health.

“They led me through it one step at a time,” Meunier explained. “The nutritionists helped me with diet changes, the surgeon walked me through the process, and they gave me the tools to be successful along the way.”

The team’s commitment to delivering high quality patient safety and better health outcomes has earned the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP), which is the gold-standard quality assurance program in bariatric surgery. UC Davis is also accredited by MBSAQIP as a comprehensive bariatric center, the highest accreditation.

“As one of the first centers of excellence in the U.S. (more than a decade ago), we prioritize patient outcomes and always strive to improve weight loss and weight loss maintenance while reducing complications,” said Mohamed Ali, bariatric surgery chief. “Recognition as a center of excellence is verification that our team of specialists in surgery, nutrition, medical management and psychology have succeeded in the tenets that we hold dear.”

Breeanna Meunier chose to live her best life and has lost 167 pounds since her surgery in 2019.

Bariatric surgeries are among the most common elective surgeries in the U.S. — with more than 252,000 bariatric surgeries performed in 2018 based on a report from the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.  The UC Davis Health team completes approximately 150 procedures each year, including primary procedures, endoluminal therapeutics, and revisions.

Ali said patients with obesity who undergo bariatric surgery are best served by a multidisciplinary team approach, which is considered  state of the art by national societies such as the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and the American College of Surgeons. At UC Davis Health, surgeons developed the integrated ‘endometabolic’ approach to provide treatment solutions for obesity and endocrine diseases, such as thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal.

Two years later and 167 pounds lighter, Meunier recommends the procedure and the UC Davis Health team.

“I put everything I learned into practice every day. I can still reach out if I need support today,” she said. “It’s things like that that really make a difference for me.”

Learn Bariatric Surgery Program at UC Davis Health.