Actor Dave Coulier, who played Uncle Joey on the beloved sitcom “Full House,” has been diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, he said Wednesday.
“Five weeks ago I was diagnosed with stage three non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. And in that time, I’ve had three surgeries, I’ve had chemo, I’ve lost a little bit of hair,” the 65-year-old told NBC’s “TODAY” show.
“I kind of look like a little baby bird now, but it has been a roller coaster ride for sure,” he added.
He said he first had a cold and experienced slight swelling in his groin area that grew rapidly to the size of a golf ball within five days. His doctors decided to do some scans and a biopsy and he was diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma, which he described as “a very aggressive type.”
Coulier said the news of the diagnosis was a “gut punch.”
Doctors then looked at his bone marrow to determine the staging and found that it hadn’t spread.
“We got good news that day, once we got the results that, you know, it hadn’t spread. And so at that point, the curability rate went up to 90-plus percent. So it’s very treatable,” he said.
Since then he’s undergone a round of chemotherapy, with another round scheduled for Friday. His chemotherapy should wrap in February.
“Should be total remission by that time. Fingers crossed. I’m treating this as a journey,” Coulier said. “If I can help someone who’s watching today get an early screening — a breast exam, a colonoscopy, a prostate exam — go do it because, for me, early detection meant everything.”
Coulier played Joey Gladstone on the ABC sitcom “Full House” from 1987 to 1995, as well as in the 2016-2020 reboot “Fuller House.”
He has been candid about his health journey in the past. In 2022, he shared an Instagram post saying he has been sober since Jan. 1, 2020.
In that post he said: “I loved booze, but it didn’t love me back. I decided to make a decision for my own well-being, my family and for those around me who I love so dearly.”
He said that getting sober helped him cope with the loss of his father, brother, and fellow “Full House” co-star Bob Saget, who died of head trauma in January 2022.
“Thank goodness I was sober during [the deaths of] my brother and my dad and Bob, because it really helped me go through a really tough time where I had to be in touch with the rawness of those feelings again,” he told previously said on “TODAY With Hoda & Jenna.”