‘Full House’ Star Dave Coulier Reveals Stage 3 Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Diagnosis: I Felt ‘Like I Got Punched in the Stomach’

“Full House” star Dave Coulier revealed on Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with Stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a form of blood cancer.

Speaking to Hoda Kotb on the “Today” show, the 65-year-old said his first sign was when he came down with a cold about a month ago and noticed a golf-ball sized lump in his groin.

“It swelled up immediately,” Coulier said. “I thought, ‘Wow, I’m either really sick, or my body’s really reacting to something.’”

After visiting the doctor to run some tests, Coulier received his diagnosis. “The first thing I said to them was, ‘Wait a minute — cancer?’” Coulier said, adding that it felt “like I got punched in the stomach because it never happens to you. You always hear about it happening to someone else.”

After learning that his cancer was Stage 3 — meaning that it has not yet spread outside the lymphatic system — Coulier began chemotherapy immediately, undergoing a surgery to install a port to provide his body with medication.

“You hear chemo, and it scares the daylights out of you,” he said. “The first round was pretty intense because you don’t know what to expect. You don’t know how you’re going to feel. Is this going to hit me immediately? Is it going to be devastating? Am I going to walk out of here?”

Coulier will undergo six rounds of chemotherapy every 21 days, and should be done with treatment by February. “It’s been a bit of a roller coaster,” Coulier said of his cancer journey. “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.”