Dave Coulier Gives a Thumbs-Up from Chemo Treatment: 'Remember to Laugh’
The ‘Full House’ alum said he’s “sending love” to everyone going through chemo as he shares a photo of himself getting treatment for stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Dave Coulier has shared an upbeat update from his ongoing cancer struggle, giving a thumbs-up while getting chemotherapy treatment.
“Putting a positive spin and sending love to all of you who are battling and going through chemo,” the Full House actor, 65, wrote on a photo he shared to his Instagram stories on Nov. 15.
“And remember to laugh ❤️” the comic added at the bottom of the photo, which shows an intravenous line coming out of his shirt’s neckline.
As the Cleveland Clinic explains, a chemotherapy port is often placed in the upper chest and allows for blood draws and the administering of medication — without having to prick the skin every time.
Coulier’s post came just two days after the actor exclusively told PEOPLE that he’d been diagnosed stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma — and had started chemotherapy just two weeks after his diagnosis in October.
After he had a respiratory infection, Coulier told PEOPLE his lymph nodes swelled — prompting his doctor to send him for tests.
“Three days later, my doctors called me back 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,’” he told PEOPLE.
“I went from, I got a little bit of a head cold to I have cancer, and it was pretty overwhelming,” he said. “This has been a really fast roller coaster ride of a journey.”
With non-Hodgkin lymphoma, white blood cells grow abnormally, causing tumors to grow throughout the body, according to the Mayo Clinic. Chest pain or fever can also be symptoms — as well as swollen lymph nodes, which Coulier experienced. B cell lymphoma — the specific type Coulier has — is "rare," the Mayo Clinic says.
Coulier told PEOPLE he already shaved his head as a “preemptive strike,” as chemotherapy is well-known to cause hair loss.
Coulier says he and his wife Melissa Bring chose to meet his diagnosis “head on” — recruiting the advice of friends in the medical field.
“We all kind of put our heads together and said, ‘Okay, where are we going?’ And they had a very specific plan for how they were going to treat this,” he told PEOPLE.
He shared that last week, his bone marrow test came back negative — meaning “at that point, my chances of curable went from something low to 90% range. And so that was a great day.”
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