Kirsten Storms is best known for her longtime role as Maxie Jones on General Hospital. Currently, she’s on a temporary leave from the show due to a real-life move from Los Angeles to Nashville. While fans can expect her to reprise the role in the near future, Storms is currently embracing her new chapter—and even announced a cozy sweater collab with her real-life best friend, Emme Rylan.
Recently, Kirsten opened up on Instagram with a lengthy, heartfelt post, sharing some personal health news and life updates. She wrote:
“In January (2025) I had a new scan done on my brain. After my surgery in 2021, my amazing neurosurgeon (who humors jokes I make during appointments – which is ok because he’s very smart) has been monitoring the cyst that he left on my brain, when he removed one that was causing me problems.
The January scan happened because I had symptoms that the doctors thought could’ve been brain-related. Ok – when I say that I was shocked when the doctors told me they found an aneurysm on the right side of my brain… welp, I basically launched into a stand-up comedy routine. I had a procedure done that weekend, where the doctor threaded a camera from my leg up to my brain (It’s a routine procedure, but the path inside your body that they lead the camera through is insane. The camera goes through your armpit, guys. Your armpit.)
Anyway, because of the slightly complex situation with the aneurysm (nothing bad, just typical), it wasn’t coiled that weekend. I checked in with my smart surgeon, completed my next few months at work, started my hiatus, and left California.
Did you guys know that Emme was by my side every single day during my 2021 craniotomy and hospital recovery?”
She continued:
“So now here I am with Emme 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.
Emotional support, when going through times in life that cause worry, is crucial. Aneurysms (obviously) can be caused by stress. Brain cysts? I believe that is possible too… and since the January scan showed a new, but very small, squatter (aka cyst) on my brain stem – it was clear I needed to change some things in my life ASAP.
Why Kirsten Storms Left Los Angeles?
For my own personal reasons, no longer living in Los Angeles was very important to me. The biggest reason for the move was Harper, but a lot of it was for my physical and mental health. And my overall happiness.
Which leads me to my next point… Did you know (if you’re still reading this egregiously long post) that even though crocheting isn’t “technically” a cognitive behavioral therapy exercise, it hits all of the requirements CBT exercises do? It’s meditative, your hands and brain are focusing on the same task, therefore it distracts you from feelings of stress or anxiety, and completing a project feels rewarding.
This sweater collaboration with my best friend, who is as obsessed with yarn as I am and constantly shows me that she always has my back… it kinda feels like we were meant to do this.”
In her caption, Storms added:
“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. 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. A few days after I was discharged from the hospital, 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.
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. One of those individuals just made a sh*t load of sweaters with me. They are glorious.”
We’re sending all our best to Kirsten Storms as she prepares for her upcoming coiling procedure. We love you, Kirsten—and we’ll be cheering you on every step of the way.
Photo Credit: Christine Bartolucci/Disney.
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