'Full House' actor Dave Coulier reveals tongue cancer diagnosis after overcoming lymphoma

Watch 'Full House' actor Dave Coulier reveals tongue cancer diagnosis after overcoming lymphoma - New York Post on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00So in October of this year, I went in for a PET scan, just a routine checkup,

00:05and something flared on the PET scan, and it turned out that I have P16 squamous carcinoma at the base of my tongue.

00:13That was actor Dave Coulier on the Today Show, revealing news that surprised both him and fans around the world.

00:20The 66-year-old Full House alum says he's now battling tongue cancer,

00:24just months after celebrating being cancer-free from lymphoma.

00:28Coulier explained this diagnosis came completely out of nowhere, but he emphasized something important.

00:34This new cancer is unrelated to the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma he beat earlier this year.

00:39Coulier says doctors believe the tongue cancer may be connected to HPV,

00:43a virus he could have carried for as long as 30 years, which may have activated and developed into carcinoma.

00:49The good news? Doctors told him the cancer is very treatable, with a 90% curability rate, and treatment has already begun.

00:56Coulier says radiation has been a whole different animal compared to the chemotherapy he went through last year.

01:02While it doesn't feel quite as aggressive, he admits there are still plenty of side effects.

01:07And the experience, he says, is emotional, draining, and difficult not just for him, but for his wife Melissa too.

01:13The couple, married since 2014, has been navigating this latest chapter together.

01:19Coulier shared the toughest part isn't the physical battle, it's watching the stress it puts on her.

01:23It was just last November that Coulier first revealed his stage 3 lymphoma diagnosis on Today.

01:30Earlier this year, he received the incredible news that he was in remission.

01:33On the same day, he became a grandfather. He called it an amazing day.

01:37But a routine PET scan six months later showed something suspicious,

01:41leading doctors to discover this new HPV-related oropharyngeal tongue cancer.

01:46In a strange twist, Coulier says the only reason it was caught early

01:49is because he had already been fighting another cancer.

01:52He calls it the silver lining in a very difficult situation.

01:56Still, through it all, Coulier remains, in his words, cautiously optimistic.

02:01He says he's determined to make it to the other side of this,

02:03and he's using his story to encourage others to get checked early,

02:07because it saved his life not once, but twice.

02:10The thing that has really saved my life, Craig, is that early detection saved my life,

02:15not just the first time, but the second time as well.

02:18So, I hope you're getting your checkups.

02:20I am.

02:20I am, brother.

02:22I hope your colonoscopies and breast exams and prostate exams,

02:25they will save your life.