The "New" Sommer White were on The Doctors

05/18/2009

Sommer's Story

Everyone thinks their best friend is truly the best, but my best friend Sommer really is the best. She is friendly, upbeat, outgoing, and loving... So accepting and giving. She's so beautiful on the inside, but she's got struggles that many people might not be able to see.

She might strike you as the girl who has everything... the total package... But she has struggles that most can't see.

Sommer has dealt with her weight and has weighed as much as 300 pounds. It wasn't until the death of her grandmother that she really realized that she needed to change her life or else she would face the same fate as her grandmother. 5 years ago she decided to get gastric bypass surgery (despite the cost) and became the Sommer I now know.

When we first met Sommer didn't have the weight that she once did, but she did has an insane amount of debt as well as extra skin on her arms, breasts, stomach, and thighs that would remind her of her former body. She's a pro at finding the right clothes to wear to hide some of the excess skin, but she knows it's there and it takes it's toll on her every day of her life.

She's trying so hard to take care of herself, but she's discouraged with all of the extra "Sommer" on her body. We tried to join a boot camp class together, but she struggled with the apron of skin around her stomach. She tried to tuck the skin in so she wouldn't feel it moving on her body, but with all the movement it would come loose and make her pants loosen to the point that they would nearly fall off. She bought a dress to wear as we celebrated her 30th birthday, but when she was trying it on, she accidentally zipped her skin in the dress which hurt REALLY bad.

Sommer has worked so hard at improving her own life and she loves making the lives of those around her better as well. She touched my life now I want to be able to make a difference in her life. She has given me so much... this is the only thing I could possibly do to even closely compare to what she's done for me. Please help me give a gift to the girl who has given so much to everyone else.

Randi (Sommer's Best Friend)