Richard Gere and Julia Roberts had obvious chemistry upon their first meeting. However, Richard was not planning on taking the role. He was on the phone ready to turn down the part when Julia slid him a post-it note with the words please say yes written on it.
Without life-sustaining dialysis or a kidney transplant, once a person with kidney disease reaches Stage 5 (end stage renal disease (ESRD)), toxins build up in the body and death usually comes within a few weeks. The decision to stop treatment should be an informed and voluntary choice.
Many people have progressively diminished kidney (sometimes called renal) function as they grow old, but usually this slow decline can be managed with diet and drugs. When the kidneys fail completely, you cannot live for long unless you have dialysis or a kidney transplant. A transplant that works relieves the person of kidney failure. However, transplants are not always available, appropriate, or successful.