Dave Coulier, who played Uncle Joey in ‘Full House’, reveals he has cancer

Actor Dave Coulier, who played Uncle Joey on the beloved sitcom “Full House,” has been diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, he said Wednesday.

“Five weeks ago I was diagnosed with stage three non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. And in that time I’ve been through three surgeries, I’ve had chemo, I’ve lost a little bit of hair,” the 65-year-old. told NBC’s “TODAY” show.

“I look a bit like a little baby bird now, but it’s been a roller coaster ride for sure,” he added.

He said he first had a cold and experienced a slight swelling in the groin area that quickly grew to the size of a golf ball within five days. His doctors decided to do some scans and a biopsy, and he was diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma, which he described as “a very aggressive type.”

Coulier said the news of the diagnosis was a “gut punch.”

Doctors then looked at his bone marrow to determine the staging and found that it had not spread.

“We got good news that day when we first got the results that, you know, it hadn’t spread. And then at that point the cure rate went up to 90-plus percent. So it’s very treatable,” he said.

Since then, he has undergone a round of chemotherapy, with another round scheduled for Friday. His chemotherapy is due to finish in February.

“Should be in total remission by then. Fingers crossed. I’m treating this as a journey,” Coulier said. “If I can help someone watching today, get an early screening — a breast exam, a colonoscopy, a prostate exam — then do it, because to me early detection meant everything.”

Coulier played Joey Gladstone on the ABC sitcom “Full House” from 1987 to 1995, as well as the 2016-2020 reboot “Fuller House”.

He has previously been honest about his health journey. In 2022, he shared an Instagram post saying that he has been sober since January 1, 2020.

In that post, he said: “I loved booze, but it didn’t love me back. I decided to make a decision for my own well-being, my family and for those around me that I love so much.”

He said getting sober helped him cope with the loss of his father, brother and “Full House” co-star Bob Saget, who died of head trauma in January 2022.

“Thank God I was sober during (the deaths of) my brother and my father and Bob, because it really helped me go through a really tough time to get back in touch with those raw emotions,” he previously shared. said on “TODAY with Hoda & Jenna.”