Kirsten Storms Gives Aneurysm Update & Teases ‘General Hospital’ Return

General Hospital star Kirsten Storms has provided an update on her health two months after revealing she’d been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm.

Storms, the 41-year-old actress who has portrayed Maxie Jones on-and-off on the ABC soap opera since 2005, took to Instagram on Monday (December 22) to reveal that she is holding off on brain surgery after meeting a new neurosurgeon.

“I’ve received a lot of social media support on this subject, so I want to give an update on my medical situation,” Storms wrote. “My last appointment was with a new Neurosurgeon in St Louis. He told me that I am in the “gray zone” for the aneurysm procedure.”

She added, “It’s not super small, but it’s not at the mandatory surgery size. Basically, I can keep monitoring it – or have the coiling done, BUT he told me I wasn’t in immediate/“OMG! it’s going to burst tomorrow!” kind of danger.”

 

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Storms said she is seeing if she can get “comfortable” with the “wait and see if it gets worse plan,” noting that she isn’t exactly “eager to hop right on the operating table.”

The Days of Our Lives alum previously underwent a “craniotomy” in June 2021 to remove “a very large cyst that had split into two” in the lower part of her brain. She told fans to refer back to her 2021 post following the surgery, saying, “The pic of the back of my head will *possibly* convey why this topic is a little difficult for me to openly discuss.”

Storms had a follow-up scan in January 2025, where the aneurysm was discovered. She then underwent a “coiling” procedure, which aims to block blood flow to the aneurysm. “The doctor [threaded] a camera from my leg up to my brain,” she revealed before adding that, unfortunately, her aneurysm couldn’t be coiled.

“So, as I sit in this “gray zone”, pondering my plan, I want you guys to know that I really do appreciate the messages and stories offered of your own experiences. I needed those….and I had no idea (weird how that works, right?),” she continued in her latest post.

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Kirsten Storms Speaks Out About 'General Hospital' Hiatus & Big Life Change

She concluded her post with a tease about her return to General Hospital, saying, “🎄HAPPY HOLIDAYS 🎄and maaaaybe you will be seeing me back in Port Charles soon.”

Storms took a hiatus from the long-running daytime series back in July as she moved from Los Angeles to Nashville with her 11-year-old daughter, Harper. She later stated that part of her reason for moving and taking a break was because of her health, noting that “aneurysms can be caused by stress.”

“It was clear I needed to change some things in my life asap. For my own personal reasons, no longer living in Los Angeles was very important to me,” she shared. “The biggest reason for the move was Harper, but a lot of it was for my physical and mental health. And my overall happiness.”