3 weeks ago
29-Year-Old Faces Amputation After Long Fight With Psoriatic Arthritis
Phoebe Phillips is a 29-year-old woman with a disease called psoriatic arthritis.
This disease makes her body's immune system attack her own joints by accident.
Her knees became very swollen and painful, and the soft cushioning inside them wore away.
Now she has almost no cartilage left in her knees, so walking and climbing stairs are very hard.
Her legs are permanently bent, and she needs help with everyday things like standing in the shower.
Doctors say she may need operations to replace both knees, and those operations might need to happen again every ten years.
Doctors also warned that the bones could keep getting damaged, and one day her legs might need to be removed.
Phoebe says she was not listened to when she first asked for help.
She is willing to take the risk of surgery to try to get better.
Phoebe Phillips, 29, says she faces the possibility of a double leg amputation after years of severe inflammatory arthritis damaged both her knees.
She was diagnosed with psoriatic seronegative inflammatory oligoarthritis in March 2019 after her right knee became severely swollen and painful in late 2018.
By April 2026, an X-ray showed she had no cartilage remaining in her knees, making walking incredibly difficult.
Doctors have advised that double knee replacement may be necessary and might have to be repeated every 10 years, warning that bone loss could eventually make above-knee amputation necessary.
Phillips says her concerns were not taken seriously early enough and that she has missed out on her entire adulthood despite trying methotrexate, sulfasalazine, JAK inhibitors and biologic drugs.
- Who
- Phoebe Phillips, a 29-year-old woman living with psoriatic arthritis.
- What
- She faces possible double leg amputation after severe inflammatory arthritis left her with no cartilage remaining in both knees.
- Where
- Her location is not specified in the articles; the story was reported by the Mirror and NDTV.
- When
- Her right knee swelled in late 2018, she was diagnosed in March 2019, and by April 2026 an X-ray showed no cartilage left in her knees.
- Why
- Her psoriatic arthritis kept progressing despite multiple treatments, and she says her concerns were not taken seriously early enough.
Key facts
- Name
- Phoebe Phillips
- Age
- 29
- Diagnosis
- Psoriatic seronegative inflammatory oligoarthritis
- Diagnosed
- March 2019
- Initial symptom
- Severely swollen, painful right knee in late 2018
- Condition by April 2026
- No cartilage remaining in both knees
- Treatments tried
- Methotrexate, sulfasalazine, JAK inhibitors, biologic drugs
- Medical advice
- Possible double knee replacement repeated every 10 years; eventual above-knee amputation possible
Quotes
Phoebe Phillips
29‑year‑old patient with psoriatic arthritis
“"I've missed out on my entire adulthood so far. It's really the small things that are so much more important to me. Just to be able to go up and down a couple of stairs like a normal person.. Standing in the shower and not having to sit down - all the small stuff."”
NDTV
Sources
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