M.D. Sema Eryilmaz

Our 14-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Turner Syndrome at birth, but we never found a specialist who truly understood the complexities until we met Dr. Sema Eryilmaz at Acibadem Altunizade. She didn't just look at the growth charts; she examined our daughter's bone age X-rays with such precision, noticing subtle patterns others missed. Her approach to hormone therapy was methodical yet personalized—she explained how each adjustment would affect not just height, but cardiac health and future fertility. What amazed us was her Saturday morning call to discuss lab results, speaking directly to our teenager about her own body in a way that empowered rather than frightened her. After two years under her care, we're seeing improvements we were told were impossible.

My 72-year-old mother was admitted through emergency with severe hyponatremia and confusion—everyone assumed it was geriatric decline until Dr. Eryilmaz was consulted. While others focused on her age, Dr. Eryilmaz discovered a decades-old pituitary issue that had been mismanaged since childhood. She spent hours reconstructing medical history from vague family stories, ordering specific antibody tests that revealed autoimmune hypophysitis. Her rounds felt like detective work; she'd sit at the bedside explaining how sodium levels connected to adrenal function in language we could understand. She coordinated with cardiology and neurology, but remained the conductor of the entire symphony. Mom's mental clarity returned within days—we call it Dr. Sema's miracle.

As expats from Dubai, we brought our 8-year-old son to Istanbul specifically for Dr. Eryilmaz's reputation in precocious puberty cases. From the first video consultation, she noticed subtle signs in his hand X-rays that local doctors had overlooked. Her clinic at Acibadem felt different—she had child-friendly diagrams of hormone pathways and let my son use a miniature skeleton to point where he felt 'growing pains.' The treatment plan involved suppressing hormones temporarily, but she created a colorful calendar with him, marking milestones with stickers rather than medical jargon. Her follow-up emails included research papers translated into layman's terms and encouragement for his soccer dreams. We've since referred three families to her, each with completely different endocrine puzzles she solved uniquely.

Our newborn's routine heel prick test revealed congenital hypothyroidism—what began as a standard checkup became a lifelong care journey. Dr. Eryilmaz met us in the neonatal unit at 8 PM, explaining not just the levothyroxine dosage but how thyroid hormone shapes brain development in the first 90 days. She created a dosage chart accounting for weight gain patterns, taught us to recognize subtle symptoms like prolonged jaundice or hoarse crying, and even coordinated with a lactation consultant regarding medication timing. Her 'thyroid diary' system—where we track feeding, sleep, and medication responses—feels like co-managing rather than just following orders. At 6 months, our daughter's development is ahead of schedule, and we credit Dr. Eryilmaz's obsessive attention to metabolic details most would consider minor.