WASHINGTON — Actor Dave Coulier, who played the beloved Uncle Joey on "Full House," revealed Wednesday that he had been diagnosed with cancer.
Coulier revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on the "TODAY" show.
"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," Coulier said.
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a type of blood cancer where white blood cells grow abnormally and become tumors throughout the body.
"I kind of look like a little baby bird now, but it has been a roller coaster ride for sure,” Coulier said, adding that the diagnosis was like a "gut punch."
Coulier explained that he began noticing swelling near his groin, which quickly grew to the size of a golf ball. When doctors performed a biopsy, they found B-cell lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer.
But despite having a quickly-growing cancer in his body, Coulier had some good news: the cancer hadn't begun to spread yet.
“We got good news that day, once we got the results that, you know, it hadn’t spread," he said. "And so at that point, the curability rate went up to 90-plus percent. So it’s very treatable.”
Coulier said he has begun chemotherapy, which will continue until February.
The survival rates of people with B-cell lymphoma vary massively depending on factors including where the cancer forms, when it was detected and how aggressive it is. But according to the Mayo Clinic, recent advancements in cancer treatment for all types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma have increased the survivability of the disease for those who have it.
