Since I had to come up with some kind of a solution since this form is due for production, I coded up the following (which solved the problem), but if anyone has any better solutions, I'd love to hear them!!!
' Form-Level Variable stating whether the panel can take
' the focus away from the preceding control
Dim DontTakeAwayFocus As Boolean = False
Private Sub MyPanel_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyPanel.Click
MyPanel.Focus()
End Sub
Private Sub MyPanel_MouseEnter(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyPanel.MouseEnter
If DontTakeAwayFocus Then Exit Sub
MyPanel.Focus()
End Sub
Private Sub MyTxtBox_GotFocus(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyTxtBox.GotFocus
DontTakeAwayFocus = True
End Sub
Private Sub MyTxtBox_LostFocus(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyTxtBox.LostFocus
DontTakeAwayFocus = False
End Sub
What this allowed me to do was that if the textbox had focus, then you had to click on the panel to take the focus away, otherwise, the panel still kept the same functionality.