Or they can, if they're lucky, they may be able to get a cadaver donor before dialysis. But the average time for a kidney now is somewhere between three and five years. Short of having a transplant, once you have kidney failure, if it is caused from a chronic problem, it is rare the people recover enough function to get off of dialysis. Therefore, most patients who are on dialysis have the option of a transplant, or otherwise would need to continue on dialysis to survive. In fact recently, I met a patient who rode his bicycle cross-country, a dialysis patient.
Patients can go through normal daily activities, sex, working while on dialysis.
The best way to protect your kidneys, is avoid using analgesics, making sure blood pressure is within the normal range, around 130 over 80, not taking in excess salt, making sure one does not have diabetes. If they do, making sure they take care of controlling their diabetes. If they have high blood pressure, making sure the blood pressure is under control. If a patient has kidney problems, they should consult with their doctor before taking medications, including over the counter or herbal medications. It has been shown that the better we control high blood pressure to levels around 125 over 75, the risk of heart failure, heart attacks, kidney failure, and strokes can be reduced significantly.