Asst. Prof. MD. Halil Olgun Peker

I brought my 8-year-old daughter Elif after she fell from her bicycle and hit her head. The school nurse said to monitor her, but she developed a persistent headache and nausea. Dr. Peker didn't just order a routine scan, he sat on the floor with her, showed her pictures of the brain on his tablet, and explained everything in cartoon terms. He discovered a small epidural hematoma that required immediate but minimally invasive surgery. His approach was so gentle that Elif now calls him 'the brain mechanic' and wasn't scared at all. Three months post-op, she's back to cycling with her new helmet. We traveled from Antalya specifically for his follow-up, and it was worth every kilometer.

As a 72-year-old with Parkinson's disease, I'd accepted worsening tremors as inevitable. My local neurologist referred me to Dr. Peker for possible deep brain stimulation. What impressed me wasn't just the surgical skill, it was the philosophical discussion we had beforehand. He asked about my hobbies (I paint watercolors) and tailored the target placement to preserve my fine motor control for brushwork. The surgery felt like a collaboration. Now, six months later, my tremors are 80% reduced, and I've resumed painting Ottoman miniature reproductions. At my last checkup, he remembered to ask about my latest painting of the Topkapı Palace gates. That personal attention is rare in medicine.

My husband had a sudden, catastrophic brainstem hemorrhage while at work. Rushed to Medical Park Bahçelievler, we were told survival chances were minimal. Dr. Peker took over the emergency case at 2 AM. He didn't give false hope but explained the surgical gamble with brutal honesty, the procedure had to be done within minutes, through a tiny opening near the brainstem. The surgery took 5 hours. What followed was a month in neuro-ICU where Dr. Peker visited twice daily, even on Sundays, adjusting treatments millimeter by millimeter. My husband woke up recognizing us. He has some deficits, but he's alive and improving. Dr. Peker fought for him like it was his own family member.

I'm a 45-year-old software engineer who developed trigeminal neuralgia, the so-called 'suicide disease.' For two years, I tried medications that fogged my mind. Dr. Peker proposed an unusual approach: instead of immediate surgery, he mapped my pain triggers against my coding work patterns and designed a microvascular decompression surgery timed to my project deadlines. He used intraoperative neuromonitoring with feedback, I was awake during parts to ensure the nerve wasn't over-handled. The precision was extraordinary. Not only is the pain gone, but he preserved all facial sensation. At my 1-year follow-up, he asked technical questions about the monitoring software itself, genuinely curious. A surgeon who never stops learning.