‘Full House’ Actor Dave Coulier Reveals Shocking Cancer Diagnosis

Dave Coulier, best known for his role as Joey Gladstone on the beloved ABC sitcom "Full House," has been diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

In the YouTube video version of Wednesday’s "Full House Rewind" podcast, Dave Coulier, who co-hosts the show with Marla Sokoloff, wore a hat as he continued to open up about his stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis.

Coulier, who reprised his iconic role in Netflix’s "Fuller House" from 2016 to 2020, shared the news with People Magazine.

The 65-year-old actor explained that his diagnosis came after an upper respiratory infection caused swelling in his lymph nodes. Concerned about the swelling, his doctor recommended a series of tests, including PET and CT scans, as well as a biopsy, which ultimately confirmed the stage 3 cancer diagnosis.

“Three days later, my doctors called me back and they said, ‘We wish we had better news for you, but you have non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and it’s called B cell and it’s very aggressive,’” he recalled. “I went from, I got a little bit of a head cold to I have cancer, and it was pretty overwhelming. This has been a really fast roller coaster ride of a journey.”

After discovering that his cancer was Stage 3 — meaning it had not yet spread beyond the lymphatic system — Coulier began chemotherapy right away. He also underwent surgery to have a port installed, allowing medication to be delivered directly into his body.

“You hear chemo, and it scares the daylights out of you,” he said in an interview with NBC News’ "Today" show. “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?”

Stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is when cancer is present in lymph nodes on both sides of the diaphragm, or in lymph nodes above the diaphragm and the spleen.

After his diagnosis, Coulier immediately teamed up with close friends in the medical field and his wife to confront the cancer “head-on.” He shared that his bone marrow test came back negative, saying, “At that point, my chances of curable went from something low to 90 percent range. And so that was a great day.”

Coulier revealed that he has undergone three surgeries since his diagnosis five weeks ago and has already started chemotherapy. While he mentioned to "Today" that he “lost a little bit of hair,” he also told People that he shaved his head as a “preemptive strike.”

“I kind of look like a little baby bird now,” he added while on the NBC show.

On the YouTube version of Wednesday’s Full House Rewind podcast, co-hosted by Dave Coulier and Marla Sokoloff, Coulier is seen wearing a hat as he discusses his stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis. During the episode, he opens up more about his health journey, giving listeners a deeper look into his experience with the illness.

“I started the podcast wearing a hat, and I said, I’ve always been a man of many hats, but this hat has special significance because a couple of weeks ago, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” he told People. “That was really a conscious decision of, I’m going to meet this head-on, and I want people to know it’s my life. I’m not going to try and hide anything. I would rather talk about it and open the discussion and inspire people.”

Coulier shared that he is focusing on maintaining a positive outlook despite his diagnosis, especially for the sake of his wife and their son, Luc, who is about to become a father for the first time.

“I looked at how those words affected [Melissa] and I thought, you know what, I’m going to be strong throughout this, not just for me, but I’m going to be strong for her,” the actor told People Magazine.

The actor is scheduled to undergo six rounds of chemotherapy, with each session taking place every 21 days. He is expected to complete his treatment by February. Since the cancer has not spread, Coulier mentioned that the curability rate is over 90%. “It’s very treatable,” he added.