M.D. Leyla Şen

As a 72-year-old farmer from Karataş, I arrived at Dr. Leyla Şen's clinic with a deep-seated fear of hospitals and a tongue tumor diagnosis that felt like a death sentence. Dr. Şen didn't just see a case; she saw me—my anxiety, my rural background, my limited Turkish. She used agricultural metaphors to explain proton therapy, comparing tumor targeting to precision irrigation. During my 6-week treatment, she noticed my loneliness and arranged for a volunteer from my village to accompany me twice weekly. The radiation machine terrified me, but she personally walked me to my first session, her calm presence more comforting than any medication. Eight months later, my follow-up scan shows no evidence of disease, and I tend my pomegranate trees again. This doctor healed more than my body—she restored my will to live.

Our 9-year-old daughter Elif was diagnosed with a rare spinal tumor after months of unexplained back pain. Pediatric radiation oncology felt like navigating a nightmare until we met Dr. Şen at Acibadem. She transformed the sterile treatment room into a 'space adventure,' letting Elif name the linear accelerator 'Starship Şen' and creating a sticker chart for each session. When Elif developed anxiety about the mask, Dr. Şen spent an entire afternoon decorating it with unicorn stickers together. She coordinated with the play therapist to develop a custom VR experience that explained treatment through a fairy tale narrative. What stunned us most was her Saturday morning call after our third week, just to check if Elif had enjoyed her school play. The tumor has significantly reduced, but Dr. Şen's gift was making our child feel brave instead of broken.

I was referred to Dr. Şen during a midnight emergency transfer with a metastatic brain tumor causing seizures. As a 45-year-old engineer from another city, I expected cold efficiency. Instead, Dr. Şen met me in the ER, reviewed my scans on her personal tablet while explaining options to my panicked wife in crystalline Turkish. She devised an unconventional emergency stereotactic radiosurgery protocol that other centers said would take days to arrange. What I remember through the haze was her standing at the control console herself at 3 AM, her voice calm over the intercom during the procedure. She followed up with daily 7 AM visits during my inpatient stay, once bringing research papers about my rare mutation. Six months later, I'm back designing bridges. Dr. Şen didn't just practice medicine; she engineered a solution when time was collapsing.

As a 58-year-old breast cancer survivor, my annual follow-up with Dr. Şen felt routine until she noticed subtle changes in my old radiation fields during a digital skin analysis. While other doctors dismissed my fatigue as aging, she ordered specialized imaging that revealed radiation-induced heart changes before symptoms became severe. Her intervention was a masterclass in preventive care—collaborating with cardiology to create a monitoring protocol, adjusting my medications with exquisite precision, and even connecting me with a nutritionist specializing in post-radiation diets. During our consultations, she never rushes, always examining my old treatment photos alongside new scans. Last month, she detected early lymphedema through tactile examination before any machine could. Dr. Şen doesn't just treat cancer; she protects us from the long shadow of survival with vigilance that feels like guardianship.