If it comes down to it, dialysis is not a death sentence. Not by any means. My mother works at a dialysis clinic and sometimes people's kidneys spontaneously "open up" and become functional again. So there's hope even then. Many people live fully well on dialysis too, normal life span, etc.
The people who don't do so well are usually the ones that don't change the bad habits that got them there - junk foods, soda, etc.