Dr. Ralph Layman
Transplant Surgery
Henrico, VA
22 years experience male
Locations
Office
Henrico, VA
Phone
Insurances accepted
Blue cross blue shield
Medicaid
About
SpecialtiesDoctors may have more than one area of specialty interest. Board certification in a specialty area means the doctor has completed formal training and has practice experience in that specialty, and has passed the certification examination from the corresponding accredited medical specialty board.
Doctors may have more than one area of specialty interest. Board certification in a specialty area means the doctor has completed formal training and has practice experience in that specialty, and has passed the certification examination from the corresponding accredited medical specialty board.
Transplant Surgery
Doctor Q&A
209 Answers
70 Agrees
The number of answers this doctor has agreed with.
A 45-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
It is not incurable: Sometimes it is curable. It depends on what type of cancer it is (some have a better cure rate than others) also it depends on the location of the c... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 23-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Sort of: You can discuss the 2 types of valves with your surgeon and even tell them what your preference is. If the surgeon disagrees you can see a different ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 27-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Several: Ultra sound, fistula grams, physical examinations. It depends on what you would like to know about the access.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Stability: Most patient i treat that do daily home hemo have more physical stability, less complications and a better quality of life. It is rather labor intens... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 39-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Yes: You can be listed at as many centers as you want. You may have some issues with insurance so you will have to contact your insurance company. Also l... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.3k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Yes: I usually suggest that my patients have someone else clean the litter box but it is ok to have cats in the home.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
They are dead: Legally if a patient is considered brain-dead they are dead. The time for the organ procurment surgery however is based upon resources at the hospita... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Yes: There is an indepth review of the recipients overall health and functional level. This consists of cardiovascular work-up, pulmonary work-up. A sear... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 48-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Depends: This is a difficult question. There are 300-400 liver transplants done in the U.S. Each year for kids under 5 years old. Right now there are just ov... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 41-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
No: There is no reason to transplant a pancreas if you had part of yours removed. You will still have pancreas function with part of a pancreas. Also si... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 50-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Overall health: There is no special diet a kidney donor has to follow. I recommend common sense and overall health maintainence. Don't put yourself at risk for kidn... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 24-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Multiple: There are multiple treatments. Liver resection is the traditional approach. Other treatments include ablative destruction of the tumor with heat or ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Pancreas resection: The whipple procedure is an operation where the head of the pancreas is removed. In doing this the duodenum, gallbladder, distal bile duct and someti... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 31-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Immunosuppression: Immunosuppression can lead to mulitple problems; delayed wound healing, problems with infections, increased risks of certain types of cancers, anemia ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Personal resons: Sometimes the patient or family has personal religious or moral beliefs against removing body parts. Sometimes people are angery at the medical syst... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Need>>supply: There are more people with the diseases that need organs than there are available organs. It is that simple. There are fewer "healthy" people dying ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Yes: More people are in need of transplant than there are organs available. My recommendation to people is to make sure your family knows your wishes to b... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
I am for it: I am for organ donation. If organs are donated after someone passes away there is no cost to the family for the donation. For a living donation the ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Contact a center: It is as easy as calling a transplant center and asking them for an appointment. Actually getting on the registry is a bit harder. You will have to ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 31-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Your doctor: Contact your transplant center to help with these issues after liver transplant. It would not harm the transplant but should be done by a gyne familia... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.3k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 44-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Donor or recipient?: Donor will be sore but should be able to have sexual contact after they are released from the hospital (2-5) days for laparoscopic longer for open sur... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.3k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 26-year-old male asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Pittsburgh: I would look into the starzl transpalnt institute at upmc. Drs. Marsh and humar have been doing them for many years. In florida you may want to look... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.3k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 20-year-old female asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Several months: The most commonly used dissolvable sutures take 3-4 months to be completely absorbed by the body.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.3k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 44-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
55-60: I can't give you an exact answer as I am an abdominal organ transplant surgeon in the U.S.. Traditionally though 55 was the upper limit for oht (othot... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Abdomen and back: Pancreatitis is usually felt in the upper mid abdomen, right under the tip of the breast-bone and it goes straight through to the back. Some describe... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 44-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Deceased donor: You need a deceased donor with a healthy heart. Someone who passed away and decided to give the gift of life by passing on his vital organs to others... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 39-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Surgery: Surgery is the only curative therapy for pancreatic cancer. Usually this will be supplemented with chemotherapy and radiation. In order to have long... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Symptoms: The symptoms of liver cancer really depend on what the cancer is from and where in the liver it is. Some have no symptoms at all. Sometimes they can... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 46-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Recipient: I am assuming you mean who pays if you are the live donor. All of those costs are billed to the insurance of the person who receives the organ.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Sometimes: If you and your family agrees that you do not want to live in you current state and your medical condition is considered terminal and you meet other c... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 51-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Yes: Emergency room doctors are in the business of saving lives. They have no relation to transplant programs. They went into er medicine because they wa... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 22-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
No: Pancreatic cancer is not transmitted by person to person contact of any kind.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 25-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
A little: The hd catheter insertion thru the jugular stings a little. You usually get sone Lidocaine and sedation to put it in. It is like a big IV line.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 39-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Your options: Your options for failed kidneys are few. One is to do nothing. However if you do nothing you will die without working kidneys. Therefore the other o... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 25-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Not usually: Part of the heart matching is based on size. It would depend on the size of both the donor and recipient.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 25-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Stage at diagnosis: Pancreatic cancer is oftentimes incurable becase it has spread at the time of diagnosis and has become unresectable. Depending on where in the pancre... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 41-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
No: Marijuana is not good for people with any kind of transplant. There is no regulation and therefore there is a risk of impurities. Tis is especially ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 21-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
No: I am not exactly sure of your question but you do not need a kidney transplant unless both of your kidneys are not working. As long as you have a wor... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Yes: Some centers will take the cells out of a pancreas transplant them into a patient. There are also a very limited number of programs working on living... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Graft survival: Over all graft survival at 3 months is 85%, 1 year is 77%, 5 years is 54% and 10 years is 36%. These don't mean all were rejected. They could stop ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 30-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Affects your levels: If you drink grapefruit juice or eat grapefruits your Prograf levels will be higher. This may cause your surgeon to lower your dose then when you are... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 46-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Contact center: If you have a friend or relative that needs an organ transplant, contact the transplant center they are listed at. They will initiate a medical work-... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 30-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
It isn't: There is no inner action on the transplanted kidney. It doesn't need one. It is a complex filtering system that doesn't require input from your brai... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 31-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Yes: Nerves that are reconnected grow together very slowly. In VCA transplants (vascularized composite allografts) i.e. Hand transplants. The nerves are sp... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
8 or more: 1 heart
2 kidneys
2 lungs
1 liver
1 pancreas
1 intestine
possible more if the liver is split between a child and adult.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Yes: Adults can donate the left half of their liver to children and sometimes the right half of their liver to adults.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 31-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Gallstones, alcohol: In the U.S. The most common causes of acute pancreatitis are gallstones or alcohol. Other common causes are high blood lipids or certain medications.... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Opinion: This is a matter of opinion and debate. Personally I am in favor of an "opt out" donation strategy.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
A lot: In the optimal situation surgeons can procure a donor's heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, small intestine, pancreas, arms, face, larynx and abdominal wall... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. Ralph Laymananswered
Transplant Surgery 22 years experience
Yes: Smoking will cause complications in the vascular supply to organs. Organs are a limited resouce and not everyone that needs one gets one. Surgeons ha... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
TestimonialsRecommendations and Thank you notes are endorsements given from patients or other doctors.
Recommendations and Thank you notes are endorsements given from patients or other doctors.
3
Recommendations
385
Thank you notes
Oct 23, 2013
Fast, Fantastic answers to often complex questions, truly an asset to the Medical Community. A true national leader in transplant surgery
HealthTap member
Mar 30, 2015
Dr. Layman is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
Mar 31, 2015
Dr. Layman is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
I was told my pancreas can't be taken out..I've had chronic pancreatitis for 10 years. I'm admitted 3 to 5 times a month..I need help despe
HealthTap member
Thank you so much indeed. I am hugely indebted to you for your precise recommendations. Thanks again !
HealthTap member
This saved my life. Thank You! My grandmother had it and she died. I am sad but happy that she is wit
Education & Training
Medical/Graduate school
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, IL
Graduated 2001MD
Awards
Top Transplant Surgeon , Second Place, National - Winter
2013
Top Transplant Surgeon , Third Place, National - Summer
2013
HealthTap Founding Doctor
90,000 U.S. doctors in 147 specialties are here to answer your questions, provide medical advice, write prescriptions, and more.
Answer emailed
in 24 hours or less