Thank you for caring about the children! Take the time to care for yourself. Try to find a simple answer you can use over and over to minimize the emotional toil it must take to deal with everyone’s comments. Maybe: “when the doctors have found the right solution to the side effects I have, I’d love to come back. But I can’t give you an answer right now”.

If you miss the kids, think about writing letters back and forth. You know how much children like to have their letters answered. It might just warm your heart when you could use a little love, and the teachers would be thrilled that their students worked on their writing skills.