u/Visual_Counter_4897

I wasn't going to say anything but I'm frustrated and wanted to see if anyone else feels similarly. Basically my Mercor journey is as follows...first heard about the company in September, have applied to 260 positions and am thankful and happy to have had the opportunity to work on 3, and soon to be 4 wonderful projects. I'm just a little bit irritated as I've gotten multiple direct messages from individuals applying, who are 1) rude and inconsiderate, but also 2) who ask how I can get them an 'in' with the company or simply assume that applying will guarantee acceptance onto a project.

Has anyone else felt like there are some people in this community who are incredibly entitled? Not once have I thought to myself while applying, "I absolutely deserve to be hired". It's a job, people. No company can accept every applicant. Be realistic. Im a very positive and patient person but I've received numerous messages from people who can't even be bothered to introduce themselves or even say hi, but immediately jump to "help me land a job" or "how much do you make". It's RUDE and exhausting to see the lack of human decency/common sense spread by some people in this subreddit. I've applied to nearly 300 positions and am blessed to have been given the opportunity to work on a select few I've applied to. but not once have I thought "I'm deserving of an offer simply because I applied'.

Please, do better. If I sound irritated when messaging back, it's because I am relatively frustrated with how I'm talked to/how some of you seem to think you're entitled to work, just because you submit applications. I don't want to discourage a soul from applying but PLEASE, be a little more considerate to those you're reaching out to for guidance or help, and remember that there are so many qualified individuals applying to these positions and that it is impossible for a company to accept and extend offers to every single applicant.

I've loved my time with Mercor, and it's truly been a labor of love. I'm no better, smarter, more qualified, or worthy of an offer than anybody. I'm just somebody who is doing my best, has had a tiny fraction of success but is a little tired of seeing how some of you treat one another/act in regards to your applications and potential future with the company.I'm also more than happy to help anyone who reaches out and asks a question, but please just be a little kinder and please stop with the absolute attitude of entitlement.

Do better. (and obviously this isn't directed at everyone....just some thoughts and a reflection after getting my fair share of direct messages, and seeing how some of the people in this subreddit act and treat others)

I posted a few days ago but since then, have gotten a specialized CT scan and got resutls shortly after. To put things in context, I've been chronically ill with an undiagnosable illness for 10 years. I deal with daily low grade fevers ranging from 99.5-101, fatigue, rashes, recurrent UTIs/kidney infections (mainly ESBL infections that require IV antibiotics), persistent blood in my urine, on weekly gentamicin instillations with urology for the past 3 years with minimal improvement in symptoms. I got mono in 2016 and since then have been in and out of the hosptial, doctors appointments and specialists visits, have been to Mayo Clinic, and still nobody can figure out what is causing my longstanding medical issues.

I've had a number of CT scans, all which have pointed out this lesion but have claimed it is just a cyst and is not concerning. I've had this thing for years and it's grown but not significantly. I'm wondering if this could be the underlying cause of all of my other symptoms.

I'm just wondering why this took 10 years to properly identify. Why I was told for years it was an incidental but irrelevant finding. I'm not a medical professional but I'm a professional patient at this point and I've learned just how difficult it can be to navigate the medical system while being chronically ill. It is a nightmare. I have some incredible doctors on my team but it has been a journey to find them. I'm going to be angry if this ends up being cancer--not because it's cancer, but because I was made to feel crazy EVERY STEP OF THE WAY while trying to figure out the root cause of my health issues.

Result:

2.1 cm isodense noncontrast and hypoenhancing postcontrast left renal lesion. Differential is hyperdense cyst or hypoenhancing solid renal lesion (such as papillary renal cell carcinoma). Recommend outpatient Urology consultation. Nonurgent renal MRI may be helpful for further characterization.

Lesion of interest is a 2.1 cm isodense (31 HU) focus within the left kidney on noncontrast sequence which measures 36 HU on corticomedullary phase, 36 HU on nephrographic phase, and 38 HU on excretory phase. While relatively homogenous, visually does not appear cystic. Mild mass effect on adjacent parenchyma noted on excretory phase towards the renal sinus. No other renal lesions are evident.

I've been dismissed, gaslit, told I have Munchausens and am malingering all when I've been simply trying to get answers. Have I actually not been crazy this whole time? Have I been right? Normal people don't get fevers every single day for a decade and have persistent blood when they pee. I just got used to the fact that I was sick and that nobody could tell me why. I rationalized that maybe I was just obsessing over issues that weren't really there. Sure I get sick but how sick is too sick? How often is too often to land in the ER with emergent symptoms? I told myself and was told by doctors, and some not so gifted hosptial administrators that I enjoyed coming to the hospital, was making myself sick for attention and that I found reasons to seek care at any level.

I was bullied and made to believe that I was the problem, when all I've been doing is trying to address a physical problem. I see Urology on Wednesday and while I know there's a chance this could be a benign finding, it's the closest to an answer for my symptoms I've been in a decade. Of course I'm not praying for a tumor...that would be nuts. But after being ill for 10 years, a diagnosis is more reassuring no matter what it is, than continuing to wander aimlessly in the dark with symptoms that would send a healthy person to the ER in a heartbeat, but have simply become your normal/baseline.

'm not posting for sympathy, rather I'm posting because it makes me feel like ,my gut has been right this whole time--something has been wrong. I've been laughed at to my face by medical professionals, I've been shooed away from hospitals without an evaluation, and have been made to feel inferior all because my illness is invisible and hasn't yet revealed itself.

My message to anyone struggling with undiagnosed issues is this--if you feel something isn't right with your health, you are probably correct. Don't stop fighting until you get the answers you deserve.

As I go into Wednesday's Urology appointment, I am nervous yet have a strangely calm sense of peace as I have trudged through the darkest of this metaphorical jungle and no matter the diagnosis, the answer or the outcome, it has to be better than walking through the murky waters of being undiagnosed.

No matter the outcome, I am stronger because of the struggles I've faced and have learned a valuable and important lesson through it all...that even here, I rise.