Full House star Dave Coulier shares devastating health diagnosis: ‘I’m okay if this is the end of my journey’

Full House star Dave Coulier, who played the beloved character Uncle Joey in the 90s sitcom, has revealed he has been diagnosed with a stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The 65-year-old actor revealed to PEOPLE Magazine he has been on a medical “roller coaster” since his diagnosis in October, after an upper respiratory infection caused major swelling in his lymph nodes.

The swelling increased so much, to the size of a golf ball in one area, that his doctors advised he take a PET and CT scan and undergo a biopsy. Three days later he was told he had the “very aggressive” cancer.

“I went from, I got a little bit of a head cold to I have cancer, and it was pretty overwhelming,” Coulier told PEOPLE magazine.

“This has been a really fast roller coaster ride of a journey.”

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma causes white blood cells to grow abnormally, causing tumours to grow throughout the body. Swollen lymph nodes are one symptom, as is chest pain and fever.

Coulier was told he had “B cell” lymphoma, which, according to the Mayo Clinic, is rare and attacks the skin.

The actor and comedian said after receiving his diagnosis, he and wife Melissa Bring as well as friends in the medical field “put our heads together” to face the diagnosis “head on”.

He said his prognosis immediately improved when a bone marrow test returned negative.

“At that point, my chances of curable went from something low to 90 per cent range,” he said, adding “that was a great day”.

Two weeks after being diagnosed, Coulier started chemotherapy. He shaved his head — a “preemptive strike” — and decided to take control of his story, which he shared on the debut episode of the Full House Rewind podcast, hosted by his former Full House co-star Marla Sokoloff.

“I would rather talk about it and open the discussion and inspire people,” he told PEOPLE of the podcast.

Coulier says he decided to keep a positive outlook and take inspiration from family, many of whom have been diagnosed with cancer as well.

“I lost my mum to breast cancer. I lost my sister Sharon to breast cancer. She was 36 years old. I lost my niece, Shannon. She was 29 years old,” he said.

His sister Karen was also currently undergoing cancer treatment at the same time as him.

“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 also said he has found an odd sense of peace and “inner calm” in the weeks after being diagnosed, something he says he learned from how his family dealt with their diagnoses.

“When I first got the news, I was stunned, of course, because I didn’t expect it, and then reality settled in and I found myself remarkably calm with whatever the outcome was going to be,” he said.

“I don’t know how to explain it, but there was an inner calm about all of it, and I think that that’s part of what I’ve seen with the women in my family go through.

“I’ve had an incredible life on a journey with incredible people around me and I’m okay. It does change perspective for sure.”

Speaking on the US’ Today show on Wednesday, local time, Coulier said that when he was waiting to receive his first test results he told his wife he would be “okay if this is the end of the journey”.

Coulier has already completed the first of six chemotherapy treatments — which he told the Today show “scared the daylights” out of him. He is expected to finish treatment in February 2025.

But, through it all, he tells PEOPLE he is staying positive — least of all because he is due to meet his first grandchild in March — and hoping to inspire others to look after their health and get tested for any abnormalities early.

“Take great care of yourself, because there’s a lot to live for,” he told the magazine.

“And if that means talking with your doctors or getting a mammogram or a breast exam or colonoscopy, it can really make a big change in your life.”