Posted by “General Hospital’s” John J. York (Mac Scorpio) is a man who approaches each day with hope, gratitude, and faith, no matter what life throws at him. And life hurled some major health issues his way in late 2022.
John was diagnosed with two blood and bone marrow cancers that would have likely killed him in the next three to five years. With the support of his family, friends, fans, and faith – along with an excellent medical team and a selfless stem cell donor – he has now emerged from treatment with a positive prognosis. John joined me recently on “Christopher Closeup” (podcast below) to discuss his experiences in the last year and a half.
John and I recorded our first interview on Dec. 15, 2022, a few days after he received the news that he had myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and multiple smoldering myeloma. He kept the news quiet at the time, however, informing only his immediate family and a few close friends. John and his wife, Vicki, were also only a few days away from moving to Tennessee to be closer to their daughter, Schyler, son-in-law, Mike, and grandchildren.
Initially, John planned to receive chemo treatments at UCLA in California, but Mike suggested getting treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville because they were moving to the area anyway and it is “one of the best cancer treatment centers in the whole world.”
“He was absolutely right,” John said. “This is all, and maybe I didn’t hit on it enough in our first talk, divine intervention. I believe in almighty God and His hand in my life. It’s been there ever since I was born. It was there before I was born. I’m not going to try to convince anybody else of that, except to say I can only share my feelings, and my life, and my story with you.”
John met with Vanderbilt’s Dr. Kassim on Dec.28th, 2022, and worked out a plan that involved chemo first and, months later, a bone marrow stem cell transplant once a donor that matched John was found. Every month, beginning in March 2023, John received seven days in a row of 15 to 20 minute chemo treatments. Though many people feel physically depleted following chemo, John suffered no side effects. He retained both his appetite and energy, allowing him to travel to California every few weeks to work on “General Hospital.”
“My executive producer on the show, Frank Valentini, bent over backwards to make sure that they were able to write me in a few days in a few shows, keep it in a clump, that way I could get back to Tennessee to do my treatments, and do everything I needed to do to get well in preparation for the transplant,” John recalled.
During those months, John received a phone call from Courtney at Be the Match (now the National Marrow Donor Program or NMDP). They offer support to all cancer treatment patients who are in need of some type of transplant. Though John didn’t tell Courtney what he did for a living, she and her team already knew he was a celebrity with a platform and suggested he go public to raise awareness.
John said, “She convinced me that saying something and coming out not only could possibly help me find a match for myself, but also help other people…She helped me with her team to make the announcement. I eventually went on Twitter and told people that I was going to be away from the show for a while. I wasn’t sure how long. But if they want to be involved in being a donor or making a financial donation – which I hate asking anybody for any money whatsoever [because] I know how hard it is for everybody to make a living – if they wanted to be involved, they could…And it went very well, the support from everyone – the fans of the show, all the people on the show, the cast, the crew, everybody behind the scenes, family, friends…I was hearing from people that I hadn’t heard from since grade school. And the amount of prayers coming my way was enormous, just enormous…The seven-day chemo was March, April, May, June, July, August, September. And October was my last chemo. I found out in, I believe, September that they found an exact match [for my transplant], which was an unbelievable phone call.”
The night before John’s stem cell transplant in the hospital, he received a heavy dose of chemo “to kill all the cells in my body.” He endured a night of severe discomfort, but began feeling better the next day, November 17th, which is when the transplant happened.
“I had a port with three different tubes…They bring in a bag of fluid, and it’s like a blood bag with a little bit of blood. They hang it, they put it in the tube, they start it, and 25, 30 minutes later, we’re done. We did a family Zoom with a couple of friends while that was going on, kind of a mini party for my new birthday, because that’s my new birthday now, because I don’t have the same cells in my body anymore…Two hours later…it’s like my cells saw these new cells, and it was like West Side Story: Who are you? Let’s [rumble] Who is the dominant group now?”
That was another challenging night, but prayer got John through it. He noted, “That’s where faith comes in…I lay in bed, and I prayed. I prayed the rosary. I said a million Hail Marys, a million Our Fathers. I prayed to St. Jude, St. Philomena, St. Theresa, St. Faustina, St. Josemaria, St. Pio. I prayed to St. Catherine, just little prayers that I’ve picked up throughout the over 15, 20 years, whenever Schyler started that transformation in me. I didn’t watch TV. I prayed, and I thought about my friends, and everything else, and just be calm, and take one second at a time, one minute at a time. Basically, either your body’s going to get better or you’re not. There’s not a lot of choices in this situation.”
Despite the chances that things could go badly, John never contemplated the thought that he wouldn’t get better or survive. And he never asked God, “Why me?” He recalled being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 17, which led to him needing medication, annual colonoscopies, and a restricted diet. He views his cancers as a bit of a health detour, but realized, “People deal with this stuff all the time. Now I’ve got to do this.”
John’s unrelentingly hopeful outlook reflects the Christopher ideal that “it’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” He observed, “All there is in my life is light. I just have all this light. And even in the darkness, there’s light beyond that. So, bad things are going to happen, good things are going to happen to everybody, and you’re going to get through it. It’s going to be okay. I know whose hand is there for me, and I’m always reaching out for that hand. That hand has always grabbed my hand, and pulled me along. And now, I’ve got a whole bunch of other hands helping me out, and pushing me along, and watching what I do. I have a lot to answer for. I think I said in our first interview, I’m not a perfect person by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m so very thankful for all the blessings in my life, and I want to make sure that I take time each and every day to say, ‘thank you.'”
Following his transplant, John and his wife, Vicki, had to quarantine themselves for 100 days to prevent any germs or viruses from entering his system at a fragile time. They went for walks every day, however, because John knew he needed to keep his body moving in order to get the best health results. And that continues to be what he hopes for.
He said, “I have two different cancers. One is called myelodysplastic syndrome or MDS. If everything is 100% and everything goes well, that can be cured. The other one is multiple smoldering myeloma. That could eventually turn into full blown leukemia. But the word ‘smoldering’ is the key word there, because it’s in there. It’s in my blood. So, what this transplant did is it hopefully is changing the cell dynamic in my body that will not allow that to happen. I’m looking forward to dying at a ripe old age in my sleep instead of leukemia or some blood cancer. And who knows? I don’t know how it’s going to play out, but that’s what I’m hoping for.”
John was cleared to return to work on “General Hospital” a couple of months ago. It brought some desperately needed good news to the show’s fans, cast, and crew after two years of tragedy after tragedy, including the unexpected deaths of producer Nneka Garland, actors Sonya Eddy and Jackie Zeman, former cast members Tyler Christopher and Billy Miller, the murder of Johnny Wactor, and the passing of Harrison Wagner, the son of John’s TV wife, Kristina Wagner, who plays Felicia Scorpio.
Though John’s heroic character, Mac Scorpio, was off on an adventure in the show’s storyline, not fighting cancer, the emotional subtext of everything he had endured in real life resonated in the heartfelt, beautifully-written scenes in which he was reunited with his TV family, including actors Kirsten Storms (Maxie), Lily Fisher (Georgie), Gary James Fuller (James), Kristina Wagner (Felicia), and Josh Kelly (Cody).
Regarding his return, John recalled, “It was very emotional and everybody was very kind, genuine. Everybody came up to give me hugs. There were people that are up on booms, and working up in the rafters came down, and gave me a hug, and said, ‘Welcome back.’ It was very emotional. And I did watch. I don’t watch the show. It’s hard for me to watch myself, but I did tape that first episode coming back, and I thought it was, like you said, very well written, very well done. It just felt very genuine. The actors that I work with are so comfortable in their own skin. They’re so real. They’re so lovely, and loving, and giving. It’s not hard to relate and to do work with them. And yeah, it was a homecoming, and the story of being off on an adventure, I guess I was off on an adventure, and even the fans knew. So, there’s all that overlap…and people responded on X, with a lot of wonderful messages. And now, we’re about to get into some very interesting stuff on the show.” [Ed. note: John has returned to a meaty storyline where he discovers that Cody is the son he never knew about. Drama will ensue.]
The warm welcome John received on the “General Hospital” set is indicative of the kind of person he is, always trying to put his faith into action by loving his neighbor, whoever that might be. He reflected, “In one of [my] prayers, [I say], ‘Help me to see the face of God in the people and experiences of my life,’ and that’s what I try to do. I literally make it a point to think about that stuff when I’m talking to someone. And maybe I want to be on my way, I’ve got to go. But you know what? I’m going to stop, and look that person in the eye, and listen, give them my full attention, and see the face of God in that person, in that experience, in that moment. There’s plenty of time. The conversation will end at some point. So, just be patient, and have a nice few moments there.”
John knows he is not the only person going through illness, so he offered some words of advice for others in similar situations, once again grounded in his Christian faith. He concluded, “Stay positive. Have faith in God. Have faith in Jesus Christ. They are leading you on your way. They are always there for you. Whenever you think you might be alone in whatever circumstance, they’re there for you. In your deepest and most incredible pain you might be feeling, they’re there for you. They’re not causing it. They’re there for you for your comfort and your healing. Trust in them. Believe in them. Feel their presence in your life. That’s what I would say.”
(To listen to my full interview with John J. York, click on the podcast link):
Light One Candle - the blog of The Christophers 