Kirsten Storms is preparing for another brain surgery after doctors found an aneurysm four years after her last procedure.
The General Hospital actress, who is currently on leave from the soap opera, revealed via Instagram on Monday, October 13, that she learned about her latest health issue during a brain scan in January.
Storms, 41, explained that after her 2021 brain surgery — to remove a different cyst — her neurosurgeon has been “monitoring the cyst that he left on my brain when he removed the one that was causing me problems.”
Storms confessed she was “shocked” when the scan revealed an aneurysm on the right side of her brain. “I had a procedure done that weekend,” she said. While Storms said the procedure was “routine” but her aneurysm was a “complex situation” and therefore the doctors were unable to get it “coiled” during the procedure.
Endovascular coiling is used to “block blood flow into an aneurysm,” according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, which describes an aneurysm as a “weakened area in the wall of an artery.” If an aneurysm were to rupture, the hospital says it can cause life-threatening bleeding and damage, which is why coiling is used to try and prevent it from breaking open.
Storms, for her part, said on Tuesday that was able to go home in January and finish work, move to Tennessee with her daughter, Harper, and plan her soap hiatus all before having to return for a second shot at the surgery this month. (Storms shares Harper, 11, with ex-husband Brandon Barash.)
“Anyway, neurology stuff makes me feel a bit of nervousness, so now — here I am with [General Hospital costar] Emme [Rylan] in St. Louis and we are crocheting the most beautiful sweaters while my coiling procedure is being scheduled for sometime in the next two weeks,” the Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century actress continued via Instagram.
Storms captioned her health update with additional information about her mental state ahead of the surgery.
“I wanted to post this because even though my brain seems to be sorta lowkey rebelling against me, it does allow me to understand that we’ve all got times when things aren’t great,” she wrote. “If we can, we will do our best to do what is best for ourselves and loved ones. Since I knew what an aneurysm was, the scan in January majorly freaked me out.”
Storms then shut down rumors about why she was in the hospital earlier this year, writing, “A few days after I was discharged from the hospital [in January], someone created a blog post that said I was in the hospital that weekend because I tried to ‘unalive’ myself. I couldn’t understand why a person would make up something that terrible, when they had no idea why I was really there.”
She acknowledged that “there are a few really bad apples out there. We all know that … but there are people in my life who I am truly thankful to know.”
Storms then gave Rylan, 44, a shout-out after she stood by her side during the 2021 procedure and is back with her this round. “One of those individuals just made a s*** load of sweaters with me. They are glorious. 😍@EmmeRylan @kirstenandemme #CrochetingIsGoodForTheBrain #KickinIt,” she concluded.
Storms’ upcoming surgery comes months after she announced in July that she was taking time off from General Hospital and relocating from California to Tennessee.
“It’s possible I will be back in December, maybe November,” Storms said via Instagram at the time. “I promise you the story line they have going on until my return to Port Charles is kind of incredible. You guys are gonna freak out actually.”
Storms has played Maxie on and off since May 2005. She previously took a break from the show in 2021 after she had a “very large cyst that had split into two” removed from the lower portion of her brain.
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