Months after announcing she was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm in October, Kirsten Storms is sharing an update on her health.

The General Hospital star, 41, took to Instagram on Monday, Dec. 22, and said that despite revealing in October that she needed to undergo brain surgery, she is holding off on the operation.

“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,” she explained.

She added, “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. 💁🏼‍♀️ Trying to see if I’m comfortable with the ‘wait and see if it gets worse’ plan.”

According to John Hopkins Medicine, an aneurysm is a weakened or bulging artery wall, and coiling is a procedure used to block blood flow to the aneurysm. If an aneurysm bursts, it can cause brain damage or be fatal, but blocking the blood flow with the coil — which may be thinner than a human hair — can prevent it from rupturing.

“I do know that I am not eager to hop right on the operating table. (Plz refer to my post in 2021, following my craniotomy. The pic of the back of my head will *possibly* convey why this topic is a little difficult for me to openly discuss. And of course there was that surgery back in Jan this year 🙅🏼‍♀️),” Storms continued on Instagram.

In June 2021, Storms had surgery to remove “a very large cyst that had split into two” that was sitting in the lower part of her brain and causing frequent pain. It was during a follow-up scan in January of this year that the actress’ doctor discovered that she had an aneurysm on the right side of her brain.

Shortly after, the Zenon alum underwent a procedure “where the doctor [threaded] a camera from my leg up to my brain,” but the aneurysm ultimately could not be coiled.

“So 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,” Storms went on to write Monday. “I needed those….and I had no idea (weird how that works, right?). Super easy to be silly and have fun on these platforms, but getting deep about online rumors and my feelings about them? Hah….i’d rather switch to decaf coffee. (My psychologist would tell me that’s a clear example of “avoidance”.)”

“Welp I’m out of jokes, so I’m gonna say 🎄HAPPY HOLIDAYS 🎄” she concluded, before dropping a bombshell by hinting at her return to General Hospital: “and maaaaybe you will be seeing me back in Port Charles soon. ✨🎅🏼✨”

Storms took a leave of absence from her long-running role as Maxie in July to move from Los Angeles to Nashville with her daughter Harper, 11. At the time, she told fans that it’s “possible” she would be back to General Hospital later this year and thanked the showrunners and network executives for allowing her to take time off.

“I promise you the storyline they have going on until my return to Port Charles is kind of incredible — you guys are going to freak out, actually,” the actress said, adding that she “can‘t wait to see the comments online about that.”

She later shared that her brain aneurysm diagnosis was a contributing factor to the move and her hiatus from the beloved soap opera.

“Aneurysms (obviously) can be caused by stress … 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,” Storms said. “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.”