In August, General Hospital sent a comatose Maxie off to a long-term care facility in Boston as Kirsten Storms (Maxie) began an extended break from the show to facilitate a move to Nashville with her daughter, Harper Rose Barash. Now, in a very personal new post on Instagram, Storms opened up about the real-life health battle that prompted her decision to leave Los Angeles.
A Change Is Gonna Come
Stoms’s post came on the heels of her announcement that she and real-life best friend, former co-star and fellow knitting and crocheting aficianado Emme Rylan (ex-Lulu) had begun a new business venture, Kirsten and Emme, where they sell crocheted sweaters that they’ve designed together. She paid homage to Rylan as she disclosed that she is scheduled to undergo brain surgery in the coming weeks. Back in 2021, Storms underwent an operation called a craniotomy to drain and remove noncancerous cysts on her brain.
“Fun fact (not really ‘fun,’ but Emme and I like to find humor in uncomfortable situations…)” Storms’s post began. “In January (2025), I had a new scan done of my brain. After my surgery in 2021, my *amazing* neurosurgeon (who ‘humors’ the jokes I make during my appointments — which is okay 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 standup comedy routine.
“I had a procedure done that weekend, where the doctor thread a camera from my leg up to my brain,” she continued. “(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 not typical), it wasn’t coiled that weekend. I checked in with my super 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? I remember waking up in the ICU right after my procedure, and the first thing she said was ‘How are you?? DO YOU STILL LOVE YARN?’ My neurosurgeon did give a chuckle to that joke. Anyway, Neurology stuff makes me feel a bit of nervousness, 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 2 weeks.”
The actress further opened up about how her health issues connected with her decision to relocate to Tennessee and take a break from her role as Maxie, which she has played since 2005.
“Emotional support, when going through times in life that cause worry, is crucial,” Storms shared. “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. 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.”
Storms went on to pay tribute both to the healing properties of crocheting and to Rylan for her steadfast support. She wrote, “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,” she mused. “Emme, this will definitely make you so uncomfortable that you’re going to comment below with something funny, but creating these sweaters with you has been so much fun. I love you. You’re my ‘ride or die, but no ride to the airport.’ And (hypothetically) I will totally (HYPOTHETICALLY) be by your side, keying the cars of all the boys who would be stupid enough to mess with our daughters.”
In the caption introducing her carousel of text posts, Storms explained, “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.”
The Comeback Trail
After her brain surgery in 2021, Storms likewise used Instagram to update fans on her medical condition. On June 4, mere days after undergoing brain surgery, she recorded a video — with Rylan by her side — in which she revealed, “I’ve not really spoken about this much, or at all, actually; less than 48 hours ago, I had brain surgery, hence the neck brace. It was on the lower portion of my brain.”
She elaborated, “What they had to drain and remove was not cancer; I want to clarify that right now before the Internet, like, goes crazy wild with rumors about this. I had a very large cyst that had split into two and the doctor said it was, like, so full, the pressure was very noticeable when they opened up my skull.”
On June 6, 2021, the actress returned to Instagram with a longer account of the circumstances that led up to her operation. “Little bit of info for those who are wondering… I spent the last few years having random health issues that I disregarded as side [effects] to my medications or just something I was experiencing due to age. When I went to get an MRI for some severe neck pain I have been experiencing for the last few months (I assumed this neck pain was also causing my frequent ‘migraines’) my amazingly thorough orthopedist ordered an MRI of my head just to be on the ‘safe side’ — even though that isn’t his area of expertise. Truly a great doctor. That’s when we stumbled upon a rather large, very full of fluid, cyst that was attached to the lower portion of brain.”
Noted Storms, “I feel very fortunate that my situation wasn’t more serious and that I had a wonderful neurosurgeon who immediately knew how to fix it. I’m not gonna lie, brain surgery had me nervous, but I’m immensely thankful to my family, friends, and incredible ‘work family’ who have been supportive, kind and loving during a time when I’ve been feeling a lot of emotions. Work is a great place to be every day and for the 2 months leading up to my surgery I found a lot of comfort being around the people I’ve worked beside for so many years. I’m excited to get back to it after my recovery.”
She reported back to work in July of that year.
As for her current absence from the show, it is somewhat open-ended. In July, she explained on Instagram that in March, she’d met with Executive Producer Frank Valentini “about my reasons for wanting to move — and my desire to not leave the show.” She marveled, “Now, when you approach a job like this, they can always be like, ‘Forget it. I will let you out of your contract if you’re going to leave the state.’ GH did not do that — which was kind of amazing because I also asked for some time off.”
To accommodate Storms’s break, the show scripted a heartbreaking turn for Maxie: She collapsed after Sidwell deliberately poisoned Deception’s new night cream and soon wound up in a coma. Her loved ones heeded Lucas’s advice and had her moved to Boston for treatment. “I promise you the storyline they have going on until my return to Port Charles is kind of incredible — you guys are gonna freak out, actually,” the actress predicted in her June message. Fans got a sense of what she was referring to in August, when it was announced that Storms’s former leading man, Ryan Paevey, whose Nathan was married to Maxie at the time of his seeming demise in 2018, was returning to the show. He began airing again in September.
Soap Opera Digest sends its love and wishes for a speedy recovery to Storms.