Dave Coulier Says He’s “OK If This Is the End” Amid Stage 3 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Battle

Full House alum Dave Coulier shared how his recent stage 3 Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis has affected his outlook on life.

Dave Coulier has lived a full life.

The Full House alum opened up about how his recent stage 3 Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis has impacted his outlook on life, sharing a revelation that he’d discussed with wife Melissa Coulier.

“I told Melissa I don’t know why, but I [am] OK with whatever the news [is] going to be no matter how devastating,” Coulier told Today.com in an interview published Nov. 13. “I can’t explain where that came from.”

“I’ve had an incredible life,” he continued. “I’ve had the most amazing people in my life. This has been an extraordinary journey, and I’m OK if this is the end of the journey.”

The 65-year-old recounted first finding out about his diagnosis over the phone about five weeks prior to sharing it publicly.

“The first thing I said to them was, ‘Wait a minute — cancer?'” he recalled. “I was feeling like I got punched in the stomach because it never happens to you. You always hear about it happening to someone else.”

Full House, Cast, MARY-KATE, ASHLEY OLSEN, DAVE COULIER, JODIE SWEETIN, BOB SAGET, JOHN STAMOS, CANDACE CAMERON

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The Fuller House star’s mind then jumped to his wife of 10 years.

“I was just contemplating, ‘How do I tell her?'” he explained. “When I told her, of course, she thought I was joking.”

Coulier added that his wife “has been so incredible from when [they] first got the news” and has “organized [his] entire life, from nutrition to the doctor’s appointments to the pills,” even going so far as having his supplies “color-coded.”

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In the time since his diagnosis, the actor has undergone three surgeries, finished his first of an expected six rounds of chemotherapy and started losing his hair, joking with Today host Hoda Kotb during his Nov. 13 appearance that he looks “like a little baby bird now.”

While Coulier’s cancer is “very aggressive”—he had a “golf ball”-sized growth in his groin that was growing “very quickly”—the actor noted that his doctors expect him to be in “total remission” by the time he’s finished with chemo in February 2025.

Andrea Barber, Dave Coulier, Candace Cameron Bure, Big Pic

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“It’s been a bit of a roller coaster,” he reflected. “There [are] days where I feel unbelievable. Then there’s other days where … I’m just going to lay down and let this be what it’s going to be.”

Ultimately, Coulier hopes that by sharing his story, he can encourage others to get checked to hopefully avoid an even more serious diagnosis.

“I’m treating this as a journey,” he said. “And 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, you know, for me, early detection meant everything.”

Read on for more celebs who have opened up about their cancer journeys.

(E! and Today are part of the NBCUniversal family.)