![The F-35’s future: The power and cooling competition that could change everything [Video]](https://breakingdefense.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/240924_F35_moon_USAF-scaled-e1727200160419.jpg?#)
Opinion: My sister and I each gave our brother a kidney — and faced health consequences decades later
People often think that they will be perfectly fine with just one kidney. But there are long-term health consequences, and donors need more support.
In 1975, my sister Robin, at 19, became a living kidney donor for our brother. A few years later, we backpacked through Europe. She later married, had two beautiful children, and launched a successful business.
But the donation affected her long-term health. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer at 46 in 2002, Robin declined chemotherapy, fearing it might damage her remaining kidney. An MRI was halted due to metal staples from her donor surgery. She developed hydronephrosis, a condition that is more common in people with one kidney. A subsequent kidney biopsy further impaired her renal function. Dialysis became a possibility.
