M.D. Mehtap Selçuk

My 82-year-old father, Ahmet, was transferred to Acibadem Atasehir after a severe sepsis diagnosis left him unresponsive at another clinic. Dr. Selçuk didn't just see a chart—she saw a person. She spent 45 minutes with our family explaining the cytokine storm affecting his organs, using simple analogies about 'the body's defense system turning traitor.' Her team's 24/7 vigilance with a specialized CRRT machine was one thing, but her personal decision to adjust his vasopressors at 3 AM based on a subtle lactate trend she'd been tracking herself was what turned the tide. She called my mother every evening with a plain-language update. He walked out after 17 days. We call her 'Mehtap Hanım the miracle worker.'

Our 8-year-old daughter, Elif, developed acute respiratory distress syndrome following what seemed like a routine flu. The pediatric ICU was terrifying, but Dr. Selçuk had a way of making a scared child feel like the most important person in the world. She kneeled by the bed to talk to Elif about her stuffed rabbit's 'important job' of guarding the IV line. Medically, her approach was breathtakingly precise—she orchestrated a delicate balance of high-frequency oscillatory ventilation and prone positioning, explaining to us how she was 'giving the lungs a gentler kind of hug to help them heal.' She noticed a minor pneumothorax on a routine X-ray before it became critical. Her blend of profound expertise and genuine warmth turned our worst nightmare into a story of recovery.

I was the 'routine' post-op gallbladder surgery patient who crashed in recovery—a sudden, catastrophic anaphylactic reaction to an antibiotic. The chaos is a blur, but Dr. Selçuk's voice cutting through it is not: 'Stop everything. Epinephrine 0.5 mg IM. Get the difficult airway cart. Now.' In the Critical Care Unit, she identified it as a rare biphasic reaction. She personally sat by my bedside for two hours post-stabilization, monitoring for the second wave she suspected would come. It did, and she was ready. She later spent time researching the exact pharmacogenetic trigger, providing a detailed report for my future care. She didn't treat a complication; she hunted down a hidden threat and shielded me from it.

My husband, a 54-year-old diabetic, was admitted with necrotizing pancreatitis—a medical labyrinth. Dr. Selçuk managed his case like a master strategist navigating a war on multiple fronts: renal protection, glycemic control, and looming infection. She convened a 'war council' with gastroenterology and surgery, but she was the unwavering commander. Her innovation was using regional citrate anticoagulation for his dialysis to avoid bleeding risks during necessary interventions. What struck me most was her philosophical approach: 'We are not fighting the pancreas; we are convincing the entire body to survive while the pancreas heals itself.' Her explanations were like a gripping medical documentary. After a 31-day marathon, she discharged him with a handwritten note outlining the 'victory conditions' for staying well. She is an intellectual force in a white coat.