Patient Experience
As a 72-year-old with chronic COPD, I'd seen many specialists, but Dr. Sevim was different. During my routine checkup at Acibadem Taksim, she didn't just glance at my charts—she spent 40 minutes asking about my gardening habits and home heating system. She discovered my symptoms worsened after using my old wood stove. Her recommendation to switch heating methods, combined with a tailored breathing exercise regimen using a simple kitchen timer, has improved my oxygen levels more in three months than previous medications did in years. She treats the whole person, not just the lungs.
Our 8-year-old son developed a mysterious persistent cough after what seemed like a mild cold. Pediatricians called it 'post-viral' and said to wait. Dr. Sevim actually got on the floor with him during the consultation, making a game of the breathing tests. She identified exercise-induced bronchospasm masked by his shyness about using inhalers at school. Her solution? Creating a 'secret agent' narrative where his inhaler was a 'stealth breather' and designing a playground-friendly action plan with his teacher. The cough vanished within weeks. She understands children speak a different language.
I arrived at the emergency department at 2 AM with sudden pleuritic chest pain and shortness of breath—terrified of pulmonary embolism. Dr. Sevim, who was on call, had a remarkable calmness that immediately lowered my panic. Instead of rushing to invasive tests, she performed a meticulous percussion and auscultation while asking precise questions about my recent long-haul flight and genetic history. Her targeted approach meant a CT angiography was indeed necessary and confirmed her suspicion, but she avoided unnecessary radiation first. Her emergency care felt both swift and deeply thoughtful.
Following a complex lung resection surgery for a rare benign tumor, my follow-up visits with Dr. Sevim became something unexpected: collaborative strategy sessions. She used 3D-printed models of my remaining lung tissue to explain exactly how my capacity would change, and co-designed with me a return-to-marathon-training protocol that felt medically rigorous yet personally respectful. When I developed a minor infection at the surgical site, she identified it via a video consultation I initiated, saving me a hospital trip. She doesn't just provide follow-up care; she builds a recovery partnership that empowers the patient.