John Travolta auditioned for the role of Edward, which eventually went to Richard Gere, and the movie went on to be international success. In 1979, Travolta turned down the lead to star in American Gigolo, which then went to Richard Gere, and also became a hit.
While the overall statistics are not encouraging, long-term survival and quality of life after diagnosis vary greatly with the individual circumstances. The statistics show that only 20 to 30 percent of congestive heart failure (CHF) patients live longer than 10 to 12 years after diagnosis.
Even though great strides have been made in diagnosis and treatment, the prognosis remains poor for people with heart failure. Average life expectancy is less than five years in patients with symptomatic heart failure, while 90 percent of those with advanced disease have survival rates of a year. Even though survival is limited, various studies show that people with heart failure often believe their prognosis is actually better than it is.