Assoc. Prof. M.D. Meltem Güner Can

After years of debilitating migraines that felt like an ice pick behind my left eye, I was referred to Dr. Meltem Güner Can at Acibadem Atakent. I'm a 28-year-old software developer, and the pain was destroying my career. Other doctors just prescribed stronger pills. Dr. Güner Can did something remarkable—she listened to the pattern of my pain for nearly 45 minutes, correlating it with my screen time and caffeine intake. She proposed a targeted nerve block combined with a structured digital detox plan, not just medication. The procedure itself was precise and almost painless. For the first time in a decade, I've had three consecutive weeks without a migraine. She treated me like a puzzle to be solved, not just a chart.

My 8-year-old son, Deniz, developed complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) in his right foot after a seemingly minor playground fall. The pain was so severe he couldn't bear the weight of a bedsheet. We saw several specialists who were hesitant to treat a child so aggressively. Dr. Meltem Güner Can was different. She knelt to his eye level, spoke to him about his favorite cartoons, and explained the 'superhero nerve medicine' in terms he understood. She designed a pediatric-specific sympathetic nerve block series combined with a gentle physiotherapy schedule. Her approach was a blend of advanced medicine and profound compassion. Deniz is now back playing football, albeit carefully. She gave us our joyful boy back.

As a 72-year-old retired teacher with advanced spinal stenosis, I had resigned myself to a life confined to my armchair, drowning in painkillers. A routine checkup with my GP led me to Dr. Güner Can for pain management. She didn't offer a magic cure but a realistic strategy. She performed a meticulous epidural steroid injection under imaging guidance, but her real genius was the holistic 'pain pacing' plan she co-created with me. It considered my arthritis, my love for gardening, and my mental health. She coordinated with a physiotherapist who speaks my native Turkish. The pain is now a manageable background hum, not a screaming siren. I can deadhead my roses again. Her respect for my autonomy as an elderly patient meant everything.

I was an emergency admission after a motorcycle accident left me with multiple rib fractures and excruciating, breath-stealing pain. Standard opioids made me violently ill. Dr. Meltem Güner Can was consulted for acute pain management. Within hours, she proposed and performed an ultrasound-guided serratus anterior plane block—a procedure I'd never heard of. It was like a miracle switch; the crushing pain in my chest wall simply dissolved, allowing me to breathe and cough properly to prevent pneumonia. Her follow-up was relentless; she adjusted the catheter infusion personally twice daily. She managed my acute trauma pain without knocking me unconscious, which was critical for my recovery. Her intervention in that crisis was nothing short of brilliant engineering of comfort.