Dave Coulier Recalls Final Days of Chemo amid Cancer Journey, Including a Life-Threatening Cold: ‘I Was a Mess’

Dave Coulier’s journey to being cancer-free was not an easy one, particularly in the home stretch.

On the Wednesday, April 16 episode of How Rude, Tanneritos!, Jodie Sweetin, 43, and Andrea Barber, 48, were joined by their former Full House costar Coulier, 65, as they discussed the “the incredible news” that he “beat stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.”

“To celebrate Dave kicking cancer’s butt, we wanted to chat with him today about his journey and spread some awareness for non Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” the podcast opened.

Coulier revealed that it’d been “about three weeks” between his last chemo appointment and finding out that he was cancer-free.

During that time, he’d become “pretty sick” due to the chemotherapy and a cold that under normal circumstances his body could fight off.

“My blood levels were so low because after chemo treatment, red blood cells dive. All your levels, your white blood cells, everything, just your immune system just kind of crashes. And so I caught a cold during that last chemo treatment,” he recalled.

Coulier said he couldn’t leave for 10 days because he “knew that the cumulative effect of the chemotherapy was going to happen.”

“So I attributed it to that instead of realizing I have a cold and my immune system can’t handle it right now,” he said.

The comedian praises his wife Melissa Bring for making him see a doctor even when he was hesitant.

Before the doctor’s arrival, Bring took Coulier’s temperature and saw that her husband had a fever. He was prescribed antibiotics, but after his situation didn’t get any better, the next step was hospitalization.

“So I ended up in the hospital for four days while they administered an IV of antibiotics, for my fever to break. And they said, ‘Look, we don’t know what’s going on,’ ” he recalled.

While still trying to figure out what was causing his fever, doctors found proteins associated with the potential for a “massive heart attack.” Ultrasounds and CAT scans were recommended.

“I was a mess. And then we took some other tests and they finally boiled it down to, I had a rhinovirus,” he said, adding that the virus was attacking his immune system.

“And as my immune system started to regenerate a little bit, I started to come back. And on the fifth day, they finally said, ‘Your fever’s gone, you can go home.’ But they said, ‘Had you waited another 48 hours with this, we could have lost you,’ ” Coulier recalled.

He received his diagnosis in October 2024. On March 31, a representative for Coulier confirmed that he was cancer-free.