Eliana Ladenheim was born in Greece, the daughter of Greek parents. When she was young her parents decided that their daughter would be a doctor and when she grew up she went to college and studied for her undergraduate degree, however, she did not stop there, she continued on with her medical career and worked hard in the State of Ohio as a pediatrician. Once while she was away from work one night her husband took her to an appointment with the physician Dr. Zein Elabdine Belalem, he was impressed with Eliana’s physical appearance and asked her to take an interest in his practice.
After working for several years in the same area as Dr. Belalem she felt that there were more opportunity and a better chance for promotion, however, after moving to Chicago and looking for work Eliana found that it was even harder to find employment because she was so used to being self-employed and had spent her entire adult life working in the medical profession. She therefore entered the world of cosmetics as a consultant and for several years worked as a facial surgeon and aesthetician. However, in 1998, Eliana felt as if it was not fulfilling enough to keep her focused on the career path she had chosen and decided to pursue her medical career. During this time she was also working as a writer and editor in her own living room, she felt as if she could not separate her personal life from her career.
This led her to Dr. Zein Elabdine, who recognized Eliana as a talented medical specialist and suggested that they work together. Eliana was happy to enter a partnership with Elabdine who understood that her height difference and cultural differences did not stop her from achieving success as an attractive and accomplished medical professional and held great respect for her. The marriage between the two went quite smoothly and they had many years of success in their profession. Shortly after they retired they got another doctor to help them on the road to more success, however, their relationship soon soured due to Eliana’s weight loss which caused stress for him.