Justification

When I dropped Izzy off at school today, I let her teachers know that she will not be in school for the week and a half leading up to Mia's cathiterization.  About a month ago, I had informed them of what was going on with Mia and that Izzy can, at times, be impacted by the additional stress and doctor's appointments in our household.  When I left her classroom today, I felt horrible.  It's not fair in so many ways, specifically for Izzy in this situation, but for all four of us as well.  As I was driving to run errands with Mia in the back seat, tears came to my eyes just thinking about what we have in store in less than 3 weeks and then whenever Mia's surgery will be.  I was feeling guilt for it affecting Izzy & Mia's day to day lives, I was feeling sadness because her teachers informed me that we will miss the Mother's Day presentation the kids have prepared, and I felt fear for what lies ahead.  I also felt this need to justify our decision to keep Izzy home from school and to seclude our family prior to the cath.  Then I thought, why should I have to justify it?  And I got angry.  If people can't understand why we are making this decision, well, I'd have a few choice words for them that aren't really appropriate.  I would ask them to please put themselves in our shoes for a split second.  Mia needs to be healthy and we all need to be germ free.  This will help her during her cath, it will help us to take care of her without worry that she'll get sick, and it will help her fight the germs we encounter when staying in the hospital.  For those people that need us to give justification, there it is.