The General Hospital star said that after getting "a very large cyst" removed from her brain the "constant pressure and headache" are gone
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:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/J.Mazziotta2334-e3daa71fe1a745929e739c08e585253f.jpg "Kirsten Storms Already Feels a 'Noticeable Difference' in Her Symptoms After Brain Surgery (1)")
Julie Mazziotta is the Sports Editor at PEOPLE, covering everything from the NFL to tennis to Simone Biles and Tom Brady. She was previously an Associate Editor for the Health vertical for six years, and prior to joining PEOPLE worked at Health Magazine. When not covering professional athletes, Julie spends her time as a (very) amateur athlete, training for marathons, long bike trips and hikes.
Published on June 16, 2021 11:44AM EDT
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(919x172:921x174)/kirsten-storms-4-e69c54dda11c4c698375d82979424a94.jpg "Kirsten Storms Already Feels a 'Noticeable Difference' in Her Symptoms After Brain Surgery (2)")
Just two weeks after undergoing brain surgery, Kirsten Storms is already feeling a "noticeable difference" in her health.
The General Hospital star, 37, underwent surgery at the beginning of June 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. Storms had been dealing with "random health issues" over the years that she had dismissed as side effects to "my medications or just something I was experiencing due to age," but she's realizing now that they were all from the cyst.
"There's a noticeable difference for me as far as the symptoms I was experiencing from the cyst and all the pressure in my head," she said on her Instagram Story on Tuesday. "Those symptoms are gone. The constant pressure and headache I would have, which would affect me so much more than I realized now that it's not there. That is gone, and that is amazing."
Storms was also finally able to get her stitches taken out on Tuesday, though it was more difficult than she thought.
"It was more painful than I expected. I guess I thought that because I was getting my stitches out my incision was mostly healed, and it wasn't going to feel like anything. That was wrong," she said. "Even now while I'm talking I can feel the tightness in the back of my head, and neck, is very, very tight and hard-feeling."
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Still, the former Disney star is thrilled because it means she can finally wash her hair.
"I have not been able to wash my hair for two weeks, because I'm not supposed to get my incision wet. So please don't judge my so dirty topknot," she said. "Oh my gosh, it's driving me insane."
And Storms said the surgery was more than worth the pain and dirty hair.
"I was telling my doctor this morning just how thankful I am for his work and that he was able to relieve me of all of that. So, this temporary uncomfortable, painful situation I've got going on back here, it's well worth it, and thank you to everybody for your well wishes and kind comments and thoughts and prayers," she said.
"Honestly every single day I have such an outpouring of love that I couldn't be in a bad mood."
