M.D. Sirri Özkan

My 82-year-old mother, Fatma, needed gallbladder surgery, and we were terrified given her age and mild heart condition. Dr. Sirri Özkan didn't just see a procedure; he saw a person. He spent 45 minutes with our whole family, explaining the risks in plain Turkish, drawing diagrams on a notepad, and outlining a modified laparoscopic approach he'd use to minimize stress on her body. The surgery at Acibadem Atasehir was flawless. What amazed me more was his follow-up. He called me personally the evening after the operation to give an update, and during her recovery, he adjusted her pain management three times based on her feedback, not just a standard protocol. He treated her with the respect and patience you'd give your own grandmother. We didn't feel like a case number; we felt like family he was fiercely protecting.

Our 7-year-old son, Emre, swallowed a small, jagged toy part. The ER pediatrician at another facility panicked and said immediate open surgery was the only option. We demanded a transfer to Acibadem Atasehir for a second opinion. Dr. Özkan met us in the ER, calm as a mountain lake. He reviewed the scans and said, 'Let's try something gentler first.' He explained a minimally invasive endoscopic retrieval he could attempt, avoiding a large incision. He knelt down to Emre's level, showed him the camera on his phone to explain the 'tiny camera on a rope,' and promised to be very careful. The procedure worked perfectly. Emre was home the next day with two tiny bandages instead of a major scar. Dr. Özkan's innovative thinking and incredible bedside manner with a scared child turned a potential trauma into a story Emre now proudly tells. He is a wizard and a kind man rolled into one.

I'm a 45-year-old chef, and my recurring, severe abdominal pain was dismissed as 'stress' or 'indigestion' by three other doctors over two years. Dr. Özkan, during what I thought would be a routine checkup for a different issue, listened to my history and immediately said, 'This pattern isn't right.' He ordered a specific, contrast-enhanced CT scan others hadn't considered. He discovered a rare adhesive band from an old, forgotten childhood appendectomy that was intermittently causing a partial bowel obstruction. His solution wasn't rushed surgery; he mapped out a precise, single-incision laparoscopic surgery to release the band, explaining how he would navigate to avoid other adhesions. The surgery solved a decade of misery. For the first time, I felt heard and then expertly cured. He's a diagnostic detective and a surgical artist.

My follow-up visit for a routine hernia repair was anything but routine. I mentioned in passing that I'd had a weird, fleeting pain in my side weeks prior. Dr. Özkan, instead of just checking his surgical work and sending me on my way, became intensely focused. He asked a dozen specific questions about that fleeting pain. He then did a physical exam that was far more thorough than any I'd ever had, pressing and listening. He was concerned about an unrelated, early abdominal aortic aneurysm based on my family history and subtle signs. An urgent ultrasound confirmed a small, manageable aneurysm. He caught a silent, life-threatening condition during a simple post-op check! He didn't just do his job; he went miles beyond it. He saved my life with his obsessive attention to detail and refusal to overlook even a patient's casual comment.