Dr. Şevval Sarioğlu Özcan

My 82-year-old father, who has dementia, developed a sudden, terrifying choking episode while eating. We rushed him to Acıbadem Kartal's ER in a panic. Dr. Şevval was the on-call ENT. In the chaos, her calm was an anchor. She performed an emergency bedside laryngoscopy with incredible gentleness, discovering a lodged piece of soft bread. She removed it without any force, explaining every step to my confused father in a soft, reassuring tone. But she didn't stop there. She spent 30 minutes with us afterward, drawing diagrams to show us safe swallowing techniques and modifying his diet plan. She treated him not just as a medical case, but as a person deserving dignity. Her combination of emergency skill and profound compassion was something I've never witnessed in 40 years of caring for him.

Our 5-year-old daughter had undergone two sets of ear tubes elsewhere, with constant infections returning. We came to Dr. Şevval as a last resort before considering more invasive surgery. Her approach was completely different. Instead of immediately scheduling another procedure, she spent the first appointment on the floor with my daughter, playing with a toy otoscope. She called it 'the spaceship that looks in ears.' She discovered my daughter had significant adenoid hypertrophy that everyone else missed. Her surgery plan was meticulous—adenoidectomy with a third, but differently placed, tube. The follow-up was via a video call where my daughter could show Dr. Şevval her 'brave ear stickers.' It's been 18 months, infection-free. Dr. Şevval didn't just fix ears; she fixed a childhood.

As a 45-year-old teacher, I'd been dismissed by other ENTs for my 'globus sensation'—this constant feeling of a lump in my throat. They said it was just stress. Dr. Şevval listened differently. She asked about my water intake, my classroom humidity, even my posture when I graded papers. Her scoping procedure was the most comfortable I've ever had—she used a thinner pediatric scope through my nose with a numbing spray she warmed in her hands first. She found subtle evidence of silent reflux and early vocal cord strain. Her treatment wasn't just pills; it was a personalized plan: a vocal hygiene protocol, a small humidifier for my desk, and diaphragmatic breathing exercises. She treated the symptom by understanding my entire life context. The lump is gone. She gave me my voice back, professionally and personally.

I was the complex surgery case no one wanted. A recurrent pleomorphic adenoma in my parotid gland, with the facial nerve entangled from a prior surgery abroad. Multiple surgeons declined. Dr. Şevval reviewed my scans for an hour during the consultation. She said, 'The risk is high, but leaving it is higher. We will map the nerve millimeter by millimeter.' Her preparation was military-grade. She used 3D surgical modeling to show me exactly how she would navigate. The 7-hour surgery was a success, with full facial nerve preservation. But what stands out was the 2 AM follow-up. I woke up disoriented, and she was there at my bedside, not just checking the wound, but using a penlight to make me smile and blink, reassuring me in real-time that the nerve was intact. Her technical mastery is world-class, but her commitment—being there at that hour to provide immediate peace of mind—is what makes her truly extraordinary.