Dave Coulier, aka Joey in the famous 1980s sitcom “Full House,” announces that he suffers from stage 3 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
After James Van Der Beek, star of the cult series “Dawson” who recently announced that he was suffering from cancer, another figure from the small screen, Dave Coulier, star of the 1980s/1990s sitcom “La Fête à la Maison “, reveals that he “was diagnosed, five weeks ago, with stage 3 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma” (a type of blood cancer that begins in the lymphatic system, editor's note).
The actor confided that the diagnosis was “a shock (…), I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. We always believe that it only happens to other people,” he said on the set of the Today show and in an interview with People.
He explained that he noticed swelling in his lymph nodes but initially thought it was related to an ENT infection he battled in October. When the swelling started to reach the size of a golf ball, he decided to see a doctor.
“Three days later, my doctors called me back and said, 'We wish we had better news for you, but you have non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, called B-cell lymphoma, and it's very aggressive,'” he declared. “I went from having a little cold to having cancer, and it was quite overwhelming… It was a very fast roller coaster ride.”
Dave Coulier said his partner Melissa played a key role in his treatment process. “When I told her, she thought I was joking.” But once the shock assimilated, she “organized (her) entire life, from meals to doctor’s appointments to medications.” He said she and a group of friends “put their heads together” and came up with “a very specific plan for how they were going to deal with this issue.”
The actor specifies that a bone marrow test subsequently proved negative for cancer, which, in the event of a good response to treatment, considerably “increased” his chances of recovery: “they went from low 90%,” he confided.
Support from John Stamos
John Stamos shows brotherly love for his 'Full House' co-star. After Dave Coulier revealed he had been diagnosed with a “very aggressive” form of cancer, he took to Instagram to make a public statement of his dedication to his friend. “My brother since day one. I love you and I will be by your side through it all,” he wrote in the caption of a series of photos of them taken over the years.
John Stamos and Coulier have been friends for many years. John Stamos notably celebrated Coulier's 64th birthday on Instagram last September, calling him a “gift in his life” and promising to “love him always.”
They starred together on “Full House” for nine years and made guest appearances in the sequel, “Full House: 20 Years Later” (all five seasons of which aired on Netflix from 2016 to 2020). . They played Jesse Katsopolis and Joey Gladstone, the half-brother and childhood best friend of Tanner family patriarch Danny (Bob Saget, died 2022).
