M.D. Lerzan Doğan

My 82-year-old father was admitted to Acibadem Altunizade after a severe sepsis episode following pneumonia. Dr. Lerzan Doğan managed his case with what I can only describe as 'vigilant grace.' She didn't just treat numbers on a monitor; she treated my father as a whole person. When his kidney function dipped, she explained three possible approaches to our family in Turkish mixed with simple English so we all understood, never rushing us. She personally adjusted his antibiotics at 11 PM based on new culture results, then sat with us for 20 minutes to alleviate our fears. Her ability to balance aggressive treatment with compassion for an elderly man's frailty was extraordinary. We left the ICU not just with a recovered patient, but with a detailed home care plan specific to his dementia.

Our 7-year-old son was transferred to Dr. Doğan's care after a near-drowning incident at summer camp. What struck us immediately was how she modified her entire approach for a child. She used a stuffed bear to demonstrate what the ventilator was doing, speaking to him directly even when he was sedated. When his oxygen saturation became unstable, she made a critical decision to use a specific high-frequency oscillator against initial recommendations—a decision that pulmonologists later said saved him from lung injury. She created a 'bravery chart' for his ICU stay and coordinated with child life specialists. Her rounds included checking if the night noises frightened him. She didn't just save his life; she protected his childhood through the trauma.

I was the 'routine gallbladder surgery' that turned catastrophic when I developed anaphylaxis to anesthesia followed by acute respiratory distress syndrome. Dr. Doğan took over my care when I was crashing. Her intervention was methodical yet lightning-fast—she simultaneously managed my collapsing airway, the anaphylactic reaction, and impending organ failure while calmly directing a team of 8. What's unforgettable is how she identified a rare drug interaction no one else had caught, stopping a medication that was worsening my condition. For 72 hours, she seemed to live in the ICU, her notes were meticulous narratives rather than checklists. When I woke up, she explained everything using diagrams drawn on a bedside whiteboard. She turned a medical catastrophe into a structured recovery.

As an expat with complex post-COVID pulmonary fibrosis, my follow-up care with Dr. Doğan has been unlike any medical experience. She doesn't do 'quick checks.' Each visit begins with her reviewing the data I upload to her portal—home spirometry readings, oxygen saturation logs, even my subjective 'good days vs bad days' notes. During my last visit, she spent 45 minutes comparing my current CT slices with year-old images, pointing out microscopic improvements invisible to me. She then redesigned my entire rehab regimen based on subtle patterns she'd observed. When I expressed anxiety about travel, she created a contingency plan for three different climate scenarios. Her follow-up isn't maintenance; it's active, anticipatory medicine that makes me feel like we're collaboratively editing my recovery manuscript.