Kirsten Storms is back on General Hospital following her six-month leave of absence.
Storms, 41, appeared on the Thursday, February 12, episode of the long-running soap, where her character, Maxie Jones, woke up from her coma.
“James Malcolm West, you are not going skating without a helmet,” Maxie said, addressing her son’s hopes to hit the ice rink after leaving her bedside.
Storms announced in July 2025 that she was taking a leave of absence from General Hospital. Amid the actress’ hiatus, she underwent brain surgery.
Kirsten Storms Teases ‘General Hospital’ Return After Brain Aneurysm
“In January [2025], I had a new scan done of my brain,” she wrote via Instagram in October 2025. “After my surgery in 2021, my amazing neurosurgeon … has been monitoring the cyst that he left on my brain, when he removed one that was causing me problems.”
Last year, Storms’ doctors discovered an aneurysm on the right side of her brain.
“I had a procedure done that weekend, where the doctor [threaded] a camera from my leg up to my brain,” she recalled. “Aneurysms, obviously, can be caused [by] stress. Brain cysts? I believe that is possible too.”
Storms added, “It was clear I needed [to] change some things in my life ASAP. For my 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, who shares 11-year-old daughter Harper with ex-husband Brandon Barash, settled in Nashville amid her General Hospital break. She offered a health update in December 2025.
“I hope everyone is enjoying the winter break with their family and loved ones,” she wrote via Instagram late last year. “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. 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. Obvi, great news.”
According to Storms, she was trying to be “comfortable” with the concept of “wait and see” if her aneurysm gets worse to undergo surgery.
Kirsten Storms’ History as Maxie on ‘General Hospital’ Explained
“I do know that I am not eager to hop right on the operating table,” the GH vet, who previously had a craniotomy in 2021, explained. “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?).”
Storms concluded her post with a teaser that fans might “be seeing [her] back in Port Charles soon.”
Storms has starred as Maxie on and off since 2005.
“It’s been a crazy ride,” Storms told TV Insider in May 2025. “It was the first time I ever played a bad girl for an extended period of time, and it was a challenge.”
