What a way to kick off the new year. We can definitely use some good news, and that’s exactly what we got when General Hospital‘s Kirsten Storms shared an update on Instagram. As fans know, she’s been offscreen while she takes care of herself following her brain aneurysm diagnosis. Maxie’s been in a coma and Storms moved to Tennessee for love and support as she deals with her health issues.

Back when Storms first left, she promised that she’d be back and Maxie would have a “freak out” worthy story coming up. And it looks like that time is finally here! Though, it is, understandably, a bit bittersweet as the actress is missing her daughter.

“Boom,” she shared on Instagram. “2026 already… That was fast. Back at work! Seriously missing my BugBug though. California doesn’t feel right without her here.”

It’s no surprise that the fans were over the moon in the comments, though this wasn’t a complete surprise. Storms shared an update just before Christmas as she pondered her next move on her health journey and whether she wanted to tackle surgery for her aneurysm or keep monitoring it.

“My last appointment was with a new neurosurgeon in St Louis,” she wrote on Instagram. “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.”

And before she signed off, she did tease that, “maaaaybe you will be seeing me back in Port Charles soon.”

The most important thing, hands down, is Storms’ health, but we’re happy to see that “soon” is now! It is, though, the perfect time for Maxie to wake up, now that her formerly-late husband is back in the land of the living and getting awfully close to Maxie’s bestie, Lulu. Of course, we’re all still up in the air about how much Nathan is actually Nathan, but no matter what, waking up to see his face is going to throw Maxie for one heck of a loop!