(CNN) 鈥 Dave Coulier, an actor and comedian who found fame as Uncle Joey on 鈥淔ull House,鈥 has revealed he has been diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer.
Coulier shared the news Wednesday He told the show鈥檚 co-anchor Hoda Kotb that he was diagnosed five weeks ago.
鈥淚n that time I鈥檝e had three surgeries, I鈥檝e had chemo, I鈥檝e lost a little bit of hair,鈥 he said, patting his head. 鈥淚 kind of look like a baby bird now, but it has been a rollercoaster ride, for sure.鈥
Coulier said he has 鈥淏 cell lymphoma,鈥 which he described as 鈥渁ggressive.鈥
鈥淭he onset of this growing lymphoma in my groin area was very quick so I said 鈥楽omething鈥檚 not right, I have a golf ball down here,鈥欌 he told Kotb. 鈥淎nd so we biopsed it, we took it out, and they said 鈥榊ou know, we wish we had better news for you, but you have B cell lymphoma, we need to get you into chemotherapy right away.鈥欌
According to the , non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is one of the most common cancers in the US, accounting for about 4% of all cancers.
The actor said he was home alone when he received the news, and when he told his wife, Melissa, that the tests had found cancer, she told him to 鈥渜uit making jokes.鈥 Then there was the hurdle of finding out the staging of the cancer.
Fortunately, Coulier said, test of his bone marrow showed it had not spread.
鈥淎t that point the curability rate went up to 90 plus percent, so it鈥檚 very treatable,鈥 he said.
After fighting off a cold, Coulier said the swelling in his groin grew rapidly within five days. While his blood work was good, he said scans showed 鈥渉ot spots鈥 in his neck and groin.
The star said he鈥檚 had one round of chemotherapy so far, with another coming up this week. He joked about preemptively cutting his hair, which allows him to fit in his hockey helmet better and makes him 鈥渕ore aerodynamic on the ice.鈥
The devout hockey player and fan is staying as active and positive as possible with the expectation that he will be in full remission by the time he completes treatment in February.
The-CNN-Wire
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