Just two months after revealing why he has been absent from General Hospital, John J. York has begun the process of a blood stem cell transplant.
“There’s still a long road ahead, but these next 100 days I would say is rocky terrain,” York, 64, tells People.
York, who has played Mac Scorpio on General Hospital since 1991, revealed his cancer diagnosis in September.
“Over the past many months, I’ve had three bone marrow biopsies, many chemo treatments — I have another one coming up in a couple of weeks — and I am closing in on a blood stem cell transplant.”
After “a lot, a lot of tests,” York matched with a donor and was able to begin the grueling transplant process.
“The first week is an 8-day process of heavy-duty chemo, where I’ll probably lose my hair, and that’s OK,” he explains.
“And, you know, there’s just all kinds of issues. I could, I could pass away. I mean, maybe not from the chemo, but when the transplant starts. So after the eight days of these different chemo treatments that they’re doing, they’re basically wiping my body of what I’ve been living with in terms of my blood and DNA and all this stuff for my entire life. They’re wiping that clean and then they’re gonna put new stuff in me from the donor. And that’s going to be the new me.”
The 100-day process doesn’t start until the eight-day blood stem cell transplant has been completed. During the 100 days, York has to visit the hospital every day to undergo tests to make sure everything is going as planned.
“That goes on for 100 days, and I would say the first probably 20 days [after the transplant] are the crucial days. From the first day of the transplant, I’m guessing 14 to 20 days out, they’ll be able to tell with testing daily how I’m receiving and accepting the stem cells.”
Even if everything checks out after 100 days, it doesn’t end there.
York will have to take medicine for another year or two along with more testing and a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy.
Although the veteran actor is not looking forward to the “five bone marrow biopsies out there,” he’s managing to keep a positive outlook.
“Well, you know, what can I do? There’s nothing I can do about it. I said it before: one day at a time.”
Going through any kind of treatment is never easy. John, you’re in our prayers.
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