Dave Coulier has given a candid update on his battle against stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The Full House star, 65, has been undergoing chemotherapy for his blood cancer and admitted that adjusting to being bald has been a bit tough.
‘I’m feeling good. My hair has not grown back at this time yet,’ he told his co-host Marla Sokoloff, 44, on Friday on their podcast, Full House Rewind.
‘I realize how much that hair keeps you warm,’ Coulier said. ‘Gets a little cold here in Michigan where I’m at.’
Marla told him that will be useful in the summer, ‘like a little air conditioning on your head,’ prompting Coulier to quip, ‘But then you gotta make sure you put sunblock on.’
‘I don’t know if I’m gonna let it grow, like, super long to kinda make up for it,’ Coulier shared with a laugh. ‘It’ll be nice to have hair again.’
Dave Coulier has given a candid update on his battle against stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Soon after that, he got more serious about the uphill battle he is facing. ‘It’s been kind of a roller coaster ride. Different effects,’ he began.
‘And people who are watching the show or listening to the show, who have been here before, you know that it’s a roller coaster, because the side effects have side effects — and then you take a drug to counteract that and this and that.
‘So it’s this constant cocktail where your body is in fight or flight mode, and you’re just trying to adjust to, like, ‘Okay, how am I adjusting to steroids? How am I adjusting to the chemo cocktail? And then, how am I adjusting to all these other things?’
‘You know, your body’s in a fight. It’s a little bit of an internal battle,’ he said.
He also revealed that he’s heard from a lot of people who have had or also have cancer and their notes have warmed his heart and encouraged him to keep going.
‘I have heard from so many people, Marla, who have been affected by cancer in their lives. And, you know, the words of encouragement have, I think, really helped people. So that, to me, is worth the journey of all of this,’ he said.
‘If I have to feel a little out of sorts for a few months, then, then so be it,’ he concluded.
‘But just being able to alert people that it’s okay to get a colonoscopy or early screenings or a mammogram, it’s really worth it.’
He admitted that adjusting to being bald was a bit tough. The Full House star, 65, had been undergoing chemotherapy for his blood cancer
‘I’m feeling good. My hair has not grown back at this time yet,’ he told his co-host Marla Sokoloff, 44, on Friday on their podcast, Full House Rewind
In November, the Fuller House star revealed his diagnosis live on the Today Show, saying he’d been in chemotherapy and had three surgeries at that point.
‘It has been a rollercoaster ride for sure,’ he said, as he joked he looked like a ‘baby bird’ due to hair loss as a result of his treatment.
The actor said he first became concerned when he noticed a ‘golf ball’ size lump in his groin area, which he initially attributed to a cold he was suffering from.
However, the lump grew in ‘a matter of days’, leading Coulier to seek a medical opinion.
Despite his bloodwork coming back clear, doctors were concerned about how rapidly the swelling had developed and sent him for more scans which revealed ‘hot spots’ in his body.
Further testing on the lump also revealed it to be cancerous, Coulier said.
We biopsied it, we took it out, and they said, ‘we wish we had better news for you but you have B cell lymphoma, we need to get you into chemotherapy right away’,’ he explained.
Coulier added that the situation progressed so quickly his wife did not believe that he really had cancer at first.
‘I realize how much that hair keeps you warm,’ Coulier said. ‘Gets a little cold here in Michigan where I’m at’
Marla told him that will be useful in the summer, ‘like a little air conditioning on your head,’ prompting Coulier to quip, ‘But then you gotta make sure you put sunblock on’
‘Once that settled in, that was a gut punch,’ Coulier said. ‘But there was still another hurdle, we had to find out what the staging was so they went into my bone marrow and we got good news that day that it had not spread.’
The results mean that the disease is more than 90 percent treatable and Coulier hopes to be in remission by early next year.
His old friend John Stamos has been by Coulier’s side throughout treatment, even donning a pretty realistic bald cap to give his newly bald friend a laugh.
Stamos shared the photo on Instagram and captioned it, ‘Nothing like throwing on a bald cap and flexing some Photoshop skills to show some love and solidarity with my bro @dcoulier.
‘You’re handling this with so much strength and positivity—it’s inspiring. I know you’re going to get through this, and I’m proud to stand with you every step of the way. I love you
‘(p.s. – @melissacoulier is the most wonderfulest – your true life line!)’