As a young woman, McGee admits she struggled to come to terms with her diagnosis.
“I went to my GP who sent me for a scan because I had fluid around my heart, and two days later she rang me to say I had heart failure on both sides of my heart. I was only 28.”
“I couldn’t walk from my bedroom to the bathroom, I was like a lady with no lungs,” McGee explains. “So I had an ablation, which is where they burn the nerve endings in the heart [via] an artery in your leg to try to get it to work properly.”
But the procedure only worked temporarily, until the performer was told she was a “dead woman walking” and needed to have a pacemaker and defibrillator inserted. Despite the seriousness of her condition, McGee can still see the lighter side.
“I’m a bionic woman!”
Now, the mum is urging others to consider organ donation and have an open conversation with their family.
“It’s so low in Australia but it could save someone’s life.”