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--> --> Oregon sister donates kidney TERREBONNE (AP) - When Christine Chagolla's kidneys failed, she learned to be grateful there were spare parts in the family. Her sister, Nora Winningham of Terrebone, donated a kidney to Chagolla earlier this month. After losing another sister to kidney disease 10 years ago, Winningham said, the decision to offer hers was easy. "I thought, 'There's no way I'm going to let another sister die,"' said Winningham, 36. She has just returned home from Wisconsin, where she donated her kidney to Chagolla at The Froedtert & Medical College Transplant Center in Milwaukee. The surgeries were performed Aug. 8. Ten years ago, another older sister was afraid to ask her siblings to donate a kidney to save her life. By the time family members realized they could help, she was too sick to have a transplant, Winningham said. The transplant has given Chagolla 10 to 15 more years of life, Winningham says. Chagolla suffered from lupus, a chronic disease that wiped out her kidneys. Her body could no longer handle her three-times-a-week dialysis sessions. "I just couldn't take it anymore," Chagolla, 46, said in a phone interview from her home in Racine, Wis. Four other siblings and Chagolla's son also went through testing. But Winningham felt from the start that she would be the one. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing