After dealing with blood and bone marrow disorders that could lead to leukemia, General Hospital’s John J. York is back at work. His character, Mac, has got his hands full with all the crime in Port Charles, as well as hopefully finding out soon that Cody is actually his son.
Treatment Was a Long Road
On June 19, we’ll finally get to see Mac Scorpio back in Port Charles, as his portrayer, John J. York, is returning after dealing with a stem cell transplant to treat his blood disorders myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and multiple smoldering myeloma. After a donor was found and he went through the process, he told TV Insider, “This whole experience has been very emotional, very uplifting and very positive. I haven’t had one negative experience except for some bumps in the road in terms of side effects or things dealing with the transplant over the last few months. But everybody has just been incredible.”
In October 2022, he was planning on continuing to get his treatments in California and commuting back and forth to his family’s new home in Tennessee, but he explained that it wasn’t going to work that way. “My son-in-law said, ‘No, you’re not. You’re gonna do it here at Vanderbilt. It’s one of the top university cancer treatment centers in the world,” he said, adding, “’Plus,’ — this is where I get emotional — ‘you’ll have your family to support you. The grandkids are here, everybody’s here, everything’s here,’ and he was right.”
GH executive producer Frank Valentini worked with York to accommodate his chemo treatment schedule, which began in March 2023 as he explained, “So there were about 10 or 12 days a month I could work, and I would fly to California to work, fly back, do my cancer treatment, then fly back to California. And we did that once a month every month through October.” But a stem cell donor match was finally found, and he began that treatment in November, after which he had to be in isolation for 100 days. But his numbers have been great, and he’s been cleared for work.
His Return Was Welcome News
York was delighted that his friends kept in touch during this grueling period in his life, as he remarked, “Jon Lindstrom [Kevin Collins] texted me every single day, ‘How do you feel?’ I’m starting to cry. Kristina [Wagner, Felicia Scorpio] was the same. Jon sent videos of actors and crew people sending me their well wishes and love. But now that I’m back, I just want it to be another day at work.”
When he returned, cast and crew alike welcomed him with open arms. Likewise, the fans have been very supportive, but he doesn’t use the word “fan” anymore. “I call them ‘frans’ because they’re friends and fans. Daytime is a very interesting and wonderful animal in that it creates relationships,” he said, adding that he’s appreciated their adoration since he started in 1991.
He also would like to meet the guy who saved his life by donating stem cells, explaining, “I would definitely like to meet him and say, ‘Hello and thank you so much for the courage of being a donor and saving someone’s life.’ Just the fact that he’s an exact match to me is unbelievable. It’s a miracle.”
As to his major storylines, he explained he’s looking forward to continuing the Mac and Cody (Josh Kelly) story. “Expect the you-know-what to hit the fan and let the dust come down and settle where it will so get ready.”
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