Actor Dave Courier, who played Uncle Joey on the hit sitcom “Full House,” announced Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“Five weeks ago, I was diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In that time, I’ve had three surgeries, chemotherapy, and lost some hair,” the 65-year-old said. he told NBC’s “TODAY.”
“I’m a baby bird right now, but I’ve definitely been on a roller coaster,” he added.
He said he initially had a cold and felt a slight swelling in his groin that quickly grew to the size of a golf ball within five days. His doctor decided to do some scans and a biopsy and he was diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma. He described it as a “very progressive type.”
Mr Courier said the news of the diagnosis was “a punch in the gut”.
Doctors later examined his bone marrow to determine the stage of the disease and found it had not spread.
“The good news came that day because the results showed that the infection was not spreading, and at that point the cure rate rose to over 90 per cent. So it’s very treatable,” he said. I did.
Since then, he has undergone a round of chemotherapy and has another scheduled for Friday. His chemotherapy is scheduled to finish in February.
“I should be in complete remission by then. Fingers crossed. I’m treating this as a journey,” Courier said. “If I can help anyone watching today get early screening, whether it’s a breast exam, a colonoscopy, or a prostate exam, please do it, because early detection means everything to me.”
Courier played Joey Gladstone on the ABC sitcom “Full House” from 1987 to 1995 and the reboot of “Fuller House” from 2016 to 2020.
He spoke candidly about his health journey. In 2022, he stated in an Instagram post that he has been sober since January 1, 2020.
In that post he said: “I loved alcohol, but alcohol didn’t love me back. I decided to make a decision for the well-being of myself, my family, and the people around me that I love dearly.”
He said getting sober helped him cope with the loss of his father, brother and “Full House” co-star Bob Saget, who died from head injuries in January 2022.
“During my brother’s and my father’s and Bob’s (deaths), I’m glad I was sober because it’s hard to go through a really tough time when you’ve had to reconnect with the rawness of those emotions. It really helped me,” he said previously. He spoke on “TODAY With Hoda & Jenna.”
