Hi, I have ongoing endometriosis (have a coil and have had 2 laporoscopies but the endo keeps returning). The pain I experience isn't dependent on my cycle, it will come and go without warning, sometimes mild, other times strong. My manager at work knows about my condition and is understanding and supportive - I work from home when my pain is mild, and call in sick when it's severe. When I have pain the only relief is to lie down - I finding sitting in a chair and wearing tight clothes very uncomfortable - so, when working from home, I do so from my bed, as it's the only way I can be comfortable. My manager recommended that I do an occupational health assessment, so that they can get my needs logged more officially with HR, and I can ask them to recommend any equipment that would make me more comfortable. The equipment I felt that I needed most was an orthopaedic cushion and a fully adjustable desk platform to use from my bed (I even did some research and found some recommended models of both), but then when I finally had the OH assessment (it took forever, but that's another story!), they only focused on my desk space and office chair, and politely ignored every attempt I made for them to focus on what I'd need whilst sitting in bed. In their report they said that they could not condone or encourage working from a bed, due to certain health & safety regulations (that they did not cite, so I don't know how to check), so they would not offer any recommendations for equipment to help me do so. I've been incredibly angry and upset about this ever since - instead of listening to me and what I need, they've now made it MORE difficult for me to ask my employer to purchase the items I want, the combined price of which costs less than one orthopaedic chair!
Has anyone else dealt with this sort of situation? If there are such H&S regulations in place they feel incredibly gendered to me, as those of us with ovaries are far more likely to need to make ourselves comfortable in this way. The argument that working from a bed is bad for me is also incredibly frustrating as working from a chair all day is also bad, yet we're still forced to do that!?
Anyway, apologies for the long post, but any advice/support would be very much appreciated - this situation has been causing me enormous stress for months and, as many of us know, stress only makes the endo pain worse!