Kirsten Storms survives another health crisis

Kirsten Storms and Maxi are strong women

Kirsten Storms is a resilient actress who truly takes a licking and keeps on ticking as she has just announced another challenge to her health that she is fighting through. The actress has portrayed Maximista Jones on General Hospital since 2005 and she and her character have much in common. Both Kirsten and Maxi deal with horrendous situations but overcome them one and all.

General Hospital: The trials of Maxie Jones

Maxie had a heart condition and received a transplant from her cousin BJ Jones. She went through a period of self desruction where she had sex with any and everybody and had a hookup with Franci (James Franco) while he was still in serial killer mode.

Maxie also had an affair with a much married Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson) and some Port Charles residents blamed her as being the reason Lucky became addicted to pills. She was a surrogate mother for Lulu Falconeri (Emme Rylan) and Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zampragna) but miscarried and kept it quiet. She then slept with Damian Spinelli (Bradford Anderson) and tried to pass that baby off as belonging to the Falconeri's but eventually was found out.

Maxie lost custody of her daughter, Georgie, to Spinelli and was deemed an unfit mother but today they are co-parenting. She married Nathan West (Ryan Paevy) but he was murdered and she later gave birth to his son James. Maxie is currently hiding her daughter Louise in plain sight at the Quartermaine mansion where Brooke Lynn Quartermaine (Amanda Selzer)is pretending that she gave birth to the little girl she has named Bailey. Maxie's baby daddy Peter August is a madman and a murderer and she wants her child nowhere near him.

Kirsten Storms proves she is a fighter

Storms has not had the same trials and tribulations as her soap character but she has endured her share of health-related issues. The actress exited General Hospital in September 2011 after being diagnosed with endometriosis and her character was temporarily recast with Hallmark actress Jen Lilley. Fans and soap spoilers spoke of her often and wondered if she would ever return to the ABC soap and she did.

Kirsten returned as Maxie one year later on September 5, 2012, but left the show again in 2014 to give birth to her daughter Madison whose father, is her ex-husband Brandon Barash (Jake DiMera) on Days of Our Lives. Barash had previously portrayed Johhny Zacarra on GH.

Storms took time off from the ABC soap a second time in 2016 because her doctor recommended that she get some rest for stress that caused her skin to break out. During this time she lost a lot of weight and fans began suggesting that she was anorexic, on drugs, or had cancer. She soon returned to General Hospital and her true followers were excited to see her back in action.

General Hospital actress continues to bounce back

Since that time Kirsten has gained her weight back plus some additional pounds and mean-spirited viewers began attacking her once again. Like the trooper she is she continues to bring it as Maxie and show the nay sayers that she is a professional. In 2020 Storms announced that she had an issue with her brain, and would be away from GH for the third time. The actress addressed the matter by saying this on Instagram:

"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," she continued. "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."

Kirsten Storms has COVID-19

Yet again Storms recovered and came back to General Hospital but now she is dealing with COVID-19. Kirsten announced in December that she tested positive for the coronavirus as she wished her followers a Merry Christmas. She says that she is recovering and hopes to have no lasting side effects.

Endometriosis, severe stress, brain polyps, and COVID are all serious matters individually. For one young woman to have dealt with them all and continue a demanding career is quite amazing. Rather than view her life as the perils of Pauline, Kirsten continues to show her strength, determination, and fortitude and her fans admire her and again wish her well.