Prof. M.D. Fatih Köksal

As a 72-year-old with a mysterious abdominal mass, I was terrified when my local clinic couldn't determine its nature. Dr. Köksal at Adana Hospital Acibadem didn't just examine slides—he requested my entire medical history going back a decade, noticing a pattern others missed. His pathology report was so detailed it read like a detective's notebook, distinguishing between rare inflammatory pseudotumor and malignancy. When he personally called my surgeon to explain the cellular architecture nuances, I knew I was in exceptional hands. His thoroughness turned my prognosis from 'wait and see' to 'treatable with confidence.'

Our 8-year-old daughter's lymph node biopsy came back with conflicting results from two labs. Dr. Köksal created a special staining protocol just for her case, using markers typically reserved for adult cancers. He spent an afternoon comparing her tissue samples to pediatric pathology archives, ultimately identifying an exceptionally rare but benign childhood reactive process. What moved us most was how he explained it to our daughter using drawings of 'sleepy cells' that just needed rest. His dual expertise in technical pathology and human compassion turned our family's nightmare into relief.

During emergency surgery for what appeared to be acute appendicitis, the surgeon discovered unusual peritoneal deposits. Dr. Köksal was called in at midnight to process frozen sections immediately. Working through dawn, he not only identified granulomatous infection rather than cancer, but traced the histology to a specific fungal strain endemic to our region. His rapid diagnosis changed my treatment from chemotherapy to antifungals within hours. The precision of his midnight microscopy session—documented with time-stamped digital slides he later showed me—likely saved me from unnecessary aggressive treatment.

What I thought was a routine mole removal turned complex when Dr. Köksal noticed borderline features in the initial scan. Instead of giving a vague report, he performed five additional specialized tests including comparative genomic hybridization. His four-page analysis explained exactly why this was atypical but not malignant, with photographic evidence of the precise cellular layers involved. At my follow-up, he used a microscope camera to show me what 'worrisome' versus 'safe' cells actually look like—an educational session that transformed my anxiety into understanding. Now I know pathology isn't just a report; it's a detailed scientific story written about my body.