Dave Coulier has been diagnosed with cancer.
The “Full House” star, 65, revealed on Wednesday that he has stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
He appeared on Today and said he first noticed his symptoms several months ago when he got a cold, and then spotted a large lump in his groin.
“It swelled up immediately,” he said. “I thought, ‘Wow, I’m either really sick, or my body’s really reacting to something.’”
Coulier visited a doctor and was informed of his diagnosis five weeks ago, which came as a complete shock to the actor.
“The first thing I said to them was, ‘Wait a minute — cancer?’” he recalled. “(I was) feeling like I got punched in the stomach because it never happens to you. You always hear about it happening to someone else.”
Coulier confirmed that he started chemo two weeks into his diagnosis. He shaved his head which he revealed during his Today interview.
“You hear chemo, and it scares the daylights out of you,” he said. “The first round was pretty intense because you don’t know what to expect. You don’t know how you’re going to feel. Is this going to hit me immediately? Is it going to be devastating? Am I going to walk out of here?”
Coulier said he has six rounds of chemo every three weeks and is expected to finish his treatment by February.
“It’s been a bit of a roller coaster. There (are) days where I feel unbelievable,” he shared, adding, “Then there’s other days where … I’m just going to lay down and let this be what it’s going to be.”
He also revealed that his wife of 10 years, Melissa Bring Coulier, has been supportive since his diagnosis. Coulier said she “organized (his) entire life, from nutrition to the doctor’s appointments to the pills.”
“She’s got stuff color-coded. It’s pretty great,” he added.
Coulier, who has a 33-year-old son, Luc, with his first wife, further detailed his cancer battle in an interview with People. He said doctors initially told him his cancer is “very aggressive” and he’s had “good days” and “bad days” since starting chemo.
“Some days are nauseous and dizzy, and then there’s other days where the steroids kick in, and I feel like I have a ton of energy,” he continued. “I actually skated yesterday with some friends here in Detroit. We just went and skated around and shot pucks, and it was wonderful just to be out there doing something that I love and just trying to stay focused on all the great stuff that I have in my life.”
Coulier has several family members who have died from cancer, including his mother and his sister Sharon.
“I saw what those women in my family went through, and I thought to myself, ‘If I can be just 1/10th of a percent as strong as they were, then I’m going to be just fine,’” he said.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that occurs when malignant cells develop in the lymphatic system, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Stage 3 means the cancer has not spread outside the lymph system.
