Dr. Gizem Erbil

I'm a 72-year-old retired teacher who had lived with debilitating sciatica for over a decade. Multiple doctors told me surgery was too risky at my age. Dr. Erbil was different. She spent an hour with me and my daughter, explaining a minimally invasive microdiscectomy with such clarity using a 3D model of my own spine from the MRI. She never rushed us. The surgery at Acibadem was last month, and yesterday I walked 3 kilometers along the Porsuk River with no pain for the first time in years. Her follow-up care is meticulous—she even called me herself two days after discharge to check on me. She gave me my golden years back.

Our 14-year-old son, a competitive swimmer, developed severe scoliosis seemingly overnight. We were terrified. Dr. Gizem Erbil approached his case not just as a surgeon, but as someone who understood an adolescent athlete's psyche. She devised a hybrid plan: rigorous bracing and physiotherapy first, with surgery only as a last resort to preserve his mobility. For 18 months, she became our coach and confidante. At our last visit, the curve had improved enough to avoid surgery altogether. She celebrated with him like he'd won a gold medal. She treated the whole child, not just the spine.

This was no routine checkup. I arrived at Acibadem's ER at midnight after a car accident, unable to feel my legs. The chaos was overwhelming until Dr. Erbil entered. Her calm was immediate and authoritative. She diagnosed a burst fracture and spinal cord compression within minutes. She explained the urgent decompression surgery to my panicked family in plain Turkish, making eye contact with each of them. She operated for five hours. I'm writing this review from rehab, where I'm regaining sensation day by day. Her decisiveness in that emergency saved my ability to walk. She is a true crisis artisan.

As a 45-year-old software engineer with a 'routine' herniated disc, I'd seen several surgeons who just pointed at the MRI and said 'we cut.' Dr. Erbil's approach was a revelation. Her 'routine checkup' was a comprehensive biomechanical assessment—how I sat, stood, worked. She identified poor ergonomics as a major contributor and prescribed specific workstation changes and targeted exercises for six weeks before even considering surgery. The pain resolved completely with her conservative protocol. My follow-up visit felt like a collaboration. She doesn't see surgery as the first answer, but as the last, carefully considered tool. She fixed my problem without a single incision.