Dave Coulier, of Full House fame, has cancer. The actor and comedian revealed his stage 3, non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis on Wednesday, with the promise to fight the disease with all his might.
The actor explained his diagnosis, prognosis, and other intimate details in an exclusive for People Magazine (which we first spotted on The Hollywood Reporter). It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Coulier, who only found out he had the disease in October.
“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,” he explained.
What Is Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma?
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is a type of cancer that directly attacks your immune system and exists in several iterations and stages. Several celebrities, including Jane Fonda and Sam Neill, have been diagnosed with it in the recent past. It begins in your lymphatic system, which consists of your bone marrow, spleen, thymus, tonsils and adenoids, as well as the lymph nodes, lymph vessels, and lymph tissue (found in the small intestine and throughout your body).
Doctors do not know what causes NHL specifically, beyond the fact that it begins when your body creates too many of a certain type of white blood cell called lymphocytes. According to the Mayo Clinic, “lymphocytes go through a predictable life cycle. Old lymphocytes die, and your body creates new ones to replace them.”
In non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, however, “your lymphocytes don’t die, and your body keeps creating new ones. This oversupply of lymphocytes crowds into your lymph nodes, causing them to swell.” These cancerous lymphocytes are usually found first in the lymph nodes, but the disease has been known to spread to other parts of your lymphatic system, and occasionally other organs, too.
How Is Dave Coulier Handling His Diagnosis?
Coulier was diagnosed in October after an upper respiratory infection. After major swelling quickly developed in his lymph nodes, his doctor ordered PET and CT scans, as well as a biopsy, which revealed to him — three days later — that he has B cell lymphoma, which can attack the skin.
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“My doctors called me back,” Coulier explained, “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.'”
Shortly thereafter, Coulier’s wife, closest friends, and medical confidantes, leapt into high gear. “We all kind of put our heads together and said, ‘Okay, where are we going?'” he explained. “They had a very specific plan for how they were going to treat this.”
A bit of good news in all of this, however, was when his bone marrow test came back negative. “At that point,” Coulier said, “my chances of curable went from something low to 90% range. And so that was a great day.”
Coulier also went on The Today Show and spoke candidly about chemotherapy and the three surgeries he’s had in the five weeks since he was diagnosed. “I’m treating this as a journey,” he explained, hoping that sharing and bringing awareness will help others in the future. “If I can help someone who’s watching today get an early screening — a breast exam, a colonoscopy, a prostate exam — go do it because, for me, early detection meant everything.”
Most people diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma don’t have any obvious risk factors. And many people who do have risk factors never develop it. Still: it’s important to go to the doctor regularly and get any suspicious lumps checked out.