General Hospital star Risa Dorken recovers from emergency surgery

On General Hospital, Nurse Amy Driscoll gives patients emergency care all year. In real life, actress Risa Dorken, who's played Amy on a recurring basis since 2016, ended her year needing the same care she gives on screen.

General Hospital's Risa Dorken gets relief from her pain

Risa Dorken has recurred as Nurse Amy since 2016 | Image Source: Risa Dorken/Instagram

Dorken took to Instagram on December 29th to share a health update after spending the better part of 2024 trying to figure out why she was in so much pain.

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"First, I'm doing well," Dorken began in a lengthy post accompanied by a pic of the actress in a hospital bed. "My 8+ month diagnostic journey came to a climax while I spent Christmas week in the hospital."

Dorken went on to detail the many medical tests she had over the last eight months, as well as her refusal to give up on getting help.

"After 3 ER trips, 7 Dr. visits, pelvic & abdominal ultrasounds, countless blood lab visits, 2 CT scans, 3 MRIs, a HIDA scan, low fodmap diet, echocardiogram, and a treadmill stress test — with teary eyes, and an *invisible* problem — I had almost accepted my new reality," Dorken admitted. "BUT! I know my body better than anyone. The pain was intolerable and I knew it wasn’t normal. So I tried a different hospital, and they listened! Thank you, UCLA for your professionalism, care & kindness."

Dorken recently learned it was her gallbladder causing her so much trouble. Once she had it removed, she developed both jaundice and pancreatitis but believes she is finally on the mend.

Dorken advocates for self-advocacy

Risa Dorken advocated for herself | Image Source: Risa Dorken/Instagram

Dorken hasn't been shy about her mental health problems in the past and opened up about her bipolar disorder diagnosis on an episode of State of Mind with Maurice Benard in 2020.

In her recent Instagram post, Dorken described how mental health issues can lead some medical professionals to not take physical pain seriously.

"We have answers & are healing because I stood up for myself. It’s sometimes hard for healthcare providers to take you(me) seriously, when they look at your chart, see mental health conditions, run their tests, and tell you nothing is wrong- 'it’s your anxiety'" she said. "It’s devastating to feel dismissed, especially when your health (& happiness) are at stake. Wellll, sometimes scans are off & it’s a ticking time bomb organ rotting inside you… just saying. Health. Mental Health. It’s all that matters."