Dave Coulier has been diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The Full House actor revealed the stunning news during an appearance on Today Wednesday morning.
Dave Coulier, 65, explained he first noticed symptoms in October while suffering what he believed was a cold. However, a week later he noticed a golf-ball sized lymph node in his groin.
“It swelled up immediately,” he told TODAY.com. “I thought, ‘Wow, I’m either really sick, or my body’s really reacting to something.’”
After a bevy of tests, which were all normal, a biopsy of the lymph node confirmed the worst.
“[My doctors] said, ‘Hey, we wish we had better news, but you have non-Hodgkin lymphoma, B-cell lymphoma,’” Coulier recalled. “It was a shock.”
“I went from, I got a little bit of a head cold to I have cancer, and it was pretty overwhelming,” he told People. “This has been a really fast roller coaster ride of a journey.”
In order to learn how far along the disease was, doctors had to take a bone marrow sample. While Coulier described the waiting period as “pins and needles,” he began to feel an acceptance about his fate.
“I told Melissa I don’t know why, but I [am] OK with whatever the news [is] going to be no matter how devastating. … I can’t explain where that came from,” he said. “I’ve had an incredible life. I’ve had the most amazing people in my life. This has been an extraordinary journey, and I’m OK if this is the end of the journey.”
A few days later he was informed he had Stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Two weeks after his diagnosis he began chemotherapy, which he described as “pretty intense.”
In total, he will undergo six rounds of chemotherapy and expects to be done with treatment by February 2025.
Coulier recalled upon learning of his diagnosis, memories of his family members’ battles with cancer came rushing back to him.
“What they went through is 10 times harder than what I’m going through. So, if I can be one-tenth as strong as they were, I’m going to be fine.”
Sadly, the Full House actor is well-aware of the horrors of cancer. His sister Sharon was 36 years old when she died due to breast cancer. His niece Shannon, who also had breast cancer, died at 29. He also lost his mother, and his sister Karen currently has cancer.
Coulier hopes his story will help inspire others to keep on top of their health.
“The one thing that just kept presenting itself to me was to tell other people about it. Talk to them about getting something as simple as pre-screening or a breast exam, mammogram, a colonoscopy or a prostate exam. It’s a really simple thing to do and it can add years to your life.”
