ABC Actress to Undergo Brain Surgery Amid Hiatus From Show

An ABC actress is undergoing major surgery.

General Hospital star Kirsten Storms opened up on Instagram about some health problems she’s been experiencing.

She revealed that after having brain surgery in 2021, her neurosurgeon had been monitoring a cyst that he left on her brain and when she had a scan in January, it was because she had “symptoms that the doctors that could’ve been brain related.” Storms went on to say she was “shocked” when she was told they found an aneurysm on the right side of her brain and had a procedure done that weekend.

Due to the complexities of the procedure and aneurysm, the Disney Channel alum “checked in with my super smart surgeon, completed my next few months at work, started my hiatus, and left California.” Storms shared that since aneurysms can be caused by stress, she said it was clear she needed to “change some things in my life asap.” And for her own personal reasons, she left LA, both for her daughter Harper and for her “physical and mental health. And my overall happiness.”

After starring on Days of Our Lives as Belle Black from 1999 to 2004, Kirsten Storms joined fellow long-running soap opera General Hospital as Maxie Jones in 2005 and has stayed on the series since then. Storms took over for Robyn Richards, who played the character from 1993 to 2004. Throughout her run as the character, Jen Lilley, Molly Burnett, and most recently, Nicole Paggi have portrayed Maxie for various reasons. She took an extended break from GH over the summer so she could move from Los Angeles to Nashville.

Storms also admitted that her brain “seems to be sorta lowkey rebelling against me,” and will have brain surgery in two weeks for the aneurysm. She still seems to be doing as well as can be, and thanked her best friend Emme, who has been by her side throughout the whole thing, and with whom she created a line of crocheted sweaters.

Along with General Hospital, Storms is known for her titular role as Zenon Kar in Disney Channel’s Zenon: Girl of the 21^st Century (1999), Zenon: The Zequel (2001), and Zenon: Z3 (2004). She also voiced Bonnie Rockwaller in the animated series Kim Possible from 2002 to 2007, and in its Disney Channel Original Movie, Kim Possible: So the Drama, in 2005.