Hi Barry, I agree with Auditie that it sounds as though your employer really values you and is willing to wait for you until January 1, and that's really good.
Here's a JAN website about requesting and negotiating disability accommodation:
http://askjan.org/Eeguide/index.htmJAN, the Job Accommodation Network, is a service of the U.S. Labor Department and will consult with you personally at no cost to brainstorm accommodations that might keep you in your job. Check out JAN's long list of accommodations to see if there are options other than eliminating phonework from your job (text-to-voice equipment?).
Hope this helps!