M.D. Hülya Yolaçan

As a 72-year-old with chronic COPD, I'd seen many pulmonologists, but Dr. Yolaçan was different. During my routine checkup at Acibadem, she didn't just glance at my charts—she spent 40 minutes asking about my gardening, how I climbed stairs at home, and even the type of pillows I used. She adjusted my inhaler technique in a way no one ever had, using a small mirror so I could see my own posture. Three months later, I'm tending my roses without gasping. Her approach treats the whole person, not just the lungs.

Our 8-year-old son developed a mysterious persistent cough after a respiratory infection. Pediatricians called it 'post-viral' and sent us home. Dr. Yolaçan at Eskisehir Hospital conducted the most child-friendly examination I've ever witnessed—she used a toy dragon to demonstrate how lungs work and let him listen to his own breathing first. She diagnosed a rare tracheal bronchus variant that others missed. Her follow-up plan included drawing 'lung superheroes' to track his recovery. She turned a scary medical experience into an adventure for him.

I arrived at Acibadem's ER at midnight with sudden pleuritic chest pain and hypoxia. Dr. Yolaçan was the on-call pulmonologist who immediately ordered a CT pulmonary angiography while simultaneously calming my panic. She discovered multiple subsegmental pulmonary emboli but also noticed an unusual pattern in my lung bases that others might have overlooked. She coordinated with hematology right there in the ER and designed a conservative treatment plan that avoided ICU admission. Her emergency intervention felt both swift and meticulously thoughtful.

Following a complex lung resection surgery for a carcinoid tumor, my follow-up visits with Dr. Yolaçan have been masterclasses in personalized care. She doesn't just check scans; she analyzes my exercise tolerance using a simple staircase test she devised, monitors my scar tissue with ultrasound in-office, and created a breath rehabilitation program based on traditional Turkish folk breathing patterns she researched. At my last visit, she detected early signs of radiation-induced fibrosis that weren't yet visible on scans through subtle changes in my voice harmonics during breathing exercises—something I've never heard of any other doctor doing.