Firstly, congratulations!!!

Can definitely relate. Some agoraphobia (waxes and wanes), black and white catastrophic thinking (at least that's what a T called it, )

The big thing that struck me? (And an idea for...) How can you explain to your husband?? Wouldn't worry about that really. Why? When you say, "...but what if they...". Who are "they"? The people running it? Now for the idea. Tell them ahead of time. No need to go into specifics (agoraphobia, panic attacks etc), but just to say something like..."Listen. I'm not quite sure how these things are run, or if you even do such things, but if you do, I'd be immensely grateful if you could not call me up or even say my name. I'm very shy and this would make me extremely uncomfortable." Perhaps you could suggest that if they were so inclined, they could talk about the photo itself, speaking of its strengths -- ie. why they chose it. Or not, depending on how you feel about that. I'm sure the work speaks for itself. Also strongly consider that they may not even have any plans to do that ! I've been to quite a number of openings, art shows etc at galleries, and can't think of a time this has actually even happened. They certainly may talk about the strengths of it to individuals who show a particular interest in it, but unless they say, "would you like to meet the artist?" (which you can also specify to them not to do in your pre-emptive talk), you don't have to be put on the spot. You can just mill about at times when you are comfortable doing so, hang out outside when you're not, etc. Also, you could bring a friend to talk to (ie., even those there who might know you) so you can already appear occupied in conversation.