Eli has been working in medical sales for 20 years in the US as well as internationally. Currently, he is a Vice President of an infertility company based in Sweden for North and South America. He has a BS in Biochemistry and an MBA and previously did research in fetal alcohol syndrome, breast cancer and polymer chemistry. In 2013, he was diagnosed with Reversible Cerebral Vasoconstriction Syndrome (RCVS) after experiencing his first of many cerebral adrenal events. Physicians were unknowingly treating the symptoms of a pheochromocytoma instead of the underlying disease itself. Like many other patients, the symptom management was unsuccessful. Eli continued to experience cerebral events throughout the years. In 2018, while training at a gym, the cerebral events occured in a much higher frequency to where he needed immediate attention to his illness. A friend suggested searching PubMed and finding who published the latest paper on RCVS and flying to wherever that physician was for an evaluation. Serendipitously, the latest research was a physician in Denver, 2 miles from his business. Even more fortuitous, this neurologist had already diagnosed a pheochromocytoma in his lifetime and suspected a pheo on the first visit. Coincidence or Providence? Eli is estimated to have had a pheo for 10+ years slowly growing inside him. It was ultimately characterized as a Stage III Metastatic Pheochromocytoma. Having previously survived childhood Acute Lymphatic Leukemia, Eli knew the kind of determination it would take to beat this. It took two complex surgeries to remove it all. He is grateful for the team of physicians and healthcare providers at the University of CO that helped him finally achieve remission status in 2019. Without them, and the strong support of his sister and close friends, he would not be able to be the father that his only son deserves today. Eli now hopes to help others like him find the support and resources they need to in order to treat their pheo or para illness.
Eli Soto
