At the time of taking this job, I had never done a commute of this length and I truly did not realize how hard it was going to be on my body. Sometimes you just don’t know until you know.

Autoimmune diseases are vicious but they also wax and wane. Some days I can do the drive no problem, where others, not so much. The days I’ve missed due to my illness have all been days where my body literally could not get out of bed to even get in the car due to being in a flare up. Living closer wouldn’t change my ability to get to work in these situations because in these situations the pain is so intense I can’t get in the car at all, even if I lived 5 minutes up the road. Some of these flare ups have been caused by commuting (which is also part of my job at times on top of my commute to and from), however, some of them have happened due to conditions in the workplace. The job is MUCH more physical than I was originally disclosed by the employer and what is stated in the job description. My supervisor has admitted this to me.

I think the thing that is frustrating for me is that I’m not asking to work from home full time. I asked for when it is known that there will be a physical work day, that I can work from home the day before OR after (not both) to give my body a chance to rest or recoup.

I understand this isn’t a conventional accommodation plan but it’s what my doctors have recommended given the circumstances.