Five Stages of Grief

As a Human Development major (yes, that's a real thing), I remember learning about the five stages of grief.  I think we went through all 5 stages in the time between finding out about Jack's cataracts and his first surgery - the longest 9 days of our life.
Stage 1: Denial...for several days, I was expecting a phone call from the doctor saying nevermind, it's not a cataract.  I even had a dream that our doctor called us and said that only 3% of children with this needed the surgery (can you tell we had been inundated with statistics?).  I even hoped that if I kissed his eye enough, my 'mother's love' would magically make the cataract disappear and we'd be on the Today show with the doctor in disbelief that it had happened.
Stage 2: Anger...it was hard to know who to be angry with.  I was angry with myself thinking that I had done something wrong during pregnancy that caused him to have this.  I was angry with our chromosomes for mixing funny.  I was angry at parents with healthy children, and wondered why this had to happen to ours.
Stage 3: Bargaining...A few days after hearing the news, it started to sink in, and I knew there was nothing I could do.  I wished I could do it myself, or go through labor a million times without an epidural, or have a migraine for life in order to take this off of my baby.
Stage 4: Depression...this was a tough one.  I hadn't made it through a day without crying.  I didn't want to shower or eat or brush my teeth.  I just wanted to hold Jack and tell him over and over how sorry I was.  I probably would have stayed in this phase forever if it weren't for my wonderful husband, who not only had to worry about Jack, but had to be my shoulder to cry on.  I hope for everyone that goes through this that you have a support system like me.
Stage 5: Acceptance...about 2 days before his first surgery, we started to see Jack's frustration.  The cateract was big enough to see in the daylight, and unless he was looking at a light, he was very fussy.  He would turn his head from side to side as if he were trying to see past the cateract.  This is when we realized that we didn't have a choice.  He needed this surgery and he needed it quickly. 

We went through all of these emotions in the course of a week.  We had sooooo much support from family and friends though, and I don't think we could have done it without that.  Don't be afraid to tell people what's going on.  They want to help, so let them!