The HGTV star is hopeful, as the cancer has not spread beyond his neck

HGTV’s Flip or Flop has loads of fans, but one in particular changed host Tarek El Moussa’s life entirely.

Ryan Read, 31, a registered nurse, was watching a marathon day of season one earlier this year when she noticed a lump on El Moussa’s neck.

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“She didn’t want to seem like a crazy fan,” says El Moussa’s wife and co-host, Christina. “Instead of writing to us, she Googled and found the production company and sent an email saying, ‘This is not a joke. I’m a registered nurse. I’ve been watching Flip or Flop. I noticed that the host Tarek has a large nodule on his thyroid, and he needs to have it checked out.’ ”

Tarek, 32, knew something was amiss. “I was having a harder time swallowing, and this lump was getting bigger,” he tells PEOPLE. “I actually went to the doctor twice for it, and they said it’s nothing. So, once I saw [the note from Read], I was like, ‘You know what? I need to get a second opinion.’ ”

An ultrasound initially showed a 5 percent chance of the lump being cancerous. But when the doctors conducted a biopsy on June 12, they realized it was cancer, and the lump had to be removed entirely.

“They said they would remove half of it and be done in an hour,” says Tarek. “But it ended up being four hours, it was cancer, and they ended up removing my entire thyroid. When I woke up, my wife was crying and the first thing I asked was, ‘It’s cancer, isn’t it?’ And she said, ‘Yeah.’ ”

The bad news didn’t end there. The cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, and he had to undergo radioactive iodine therapy, which meant he had to be isolated from his family for their protection.

“It was a nightmare,” he says. “They stay in a different bedroom, and I can’t stay with my daughter for more than a few minutes at a time. She wanted to hug me and watch TV every night and give kisses, and we couldn’t do that.”

Last Friday, Tarek did get some good news. “I was told that the cancer didn’t spread beyond my neck,” he says. “I’m hopeful now. We’re filming a bunch of episodes and going on with life as best we can.”

Tarek and Christina will discuss their battle with cancer Thursday on an episode of the syndicated talk show The Doctors.