Golfer Phil Mickelson has had a rough year and a half. First, his wife and mother are diagnosed with breast cancer, and then he has a health scare of his own. Last year, after the U.S. Open, Mickelson began to experience some troublesome symptoms. In an interview with Extra's A.J. Calloway on Friday, Mickelson opened up about what was going on:
"After the U.S. Open last year, I wasn't able to move. I couldn't get out of bed. I had swelling, stiffness in my joints and couldn't move, just excruciating pain. I couldn't swing a golf club, and I was a little worried."After seeing a rheumatologist (a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of arthritis and other diseases of the joints, muscles and bones) he was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. With early diagnosis and treatment, Mickelson is able to play golf again. When asked why he was coming forth with this information now, he said that he "didn't think the information [about the disease] was properly out there" and wanted a way to increase the public's awareness about it (we're all about that!) Partnering with two pharmaceutical companies, Amgen and Pfizer, and the Joint Smart Coalition (a shared project of both the National Psoriasis Foundation and the Arthritis Foundation), Mickelson has set up a website called On Course with Phil as an education resource for those with arthritis and/or psoriasis.