John J. York will be taking a “little hiatus” from General Hospital after revealing that he has been undergoing treatment for two blood and bone marrow disorders.
The actor, who plays Malcolm “Mac” Scorpio on the long-running daytime soap opera, shared the news in a video (watch below) posted on his official Twitter/X account on Wednesday, September 13.
“I said I was going to give you an update on the reason I’m taking a little hiatus from General Hospital, and here it is,” he said. “So last December of ’22, I was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes, or MDS, and multiple smoldering myeloma — two blood and bone marrow disorders.”
He continued, “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’m closing in on a blood stem cell transplant.”
Hey gang, here’s the update, Check out @bethematch if you want to support https://t.co/AxA8xTbDcq pic.twitter.com/ZBinOwIrpd
— John J York (@JohnJYork) September 13, 2023
According to the Cleveland Clinic, “smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) is a blood and bone marrow disorder that can become the rare blood cancer active multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma (MM) happens when specialized white blood cells in your immune system mutate into abnormal cells.”
Myelodysplastic syndromes are “a group of cancers in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature or become healthy blood cells,” according to the National Cancer Institute.
York went on to say that he has “been working with some wonderful people at Be The Match to find a potential donor,” adding, “If it’s possible and you would consider being a donor, joining their registry, for not just me but thousands and thousands of other people who are in need of a donor, go to bethematch.org/matchformac.”
Despite this unfortunate diagnosis, York, who first joined General Hospital in 1991 and has appeared in almost 650 episodes, assured fans that he will be back.
“I just want to say thanks for all the support over the years. This isn’t goodbye, this is just, ‘So long,’” he stated. “I’ll have to take a break for at least three, maybe four months, but I’ll be back.”
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