Hi, Nicole:
I'm sorry to learn of your unpleasant experience as 'new' SSD person. It does get better in the sense that, as
Kaybo mentioned in her post, you eventually learn to adjust and accommodate the handicap. I do pretty well but I slowly lost my hearing in the AN-affected ear for some time prior to my AN diagnosis so I was already accommodating it and didn't have much of an adjustment to make, post-op. I lean in and try to turn my 'good' ear toward the speaker when dealing to clerks, cashiers, etc. I'm not afraid to ask them to speak up, if necessary. I now automatically turn - just a bit - to position myself with my 'good' ear toward a person I'm speaking with one-on-one in any kind of setting that has noticeable ambient noise (church, store). My wife has long since adjusted to purposely walking on my 'good side' (my right) almost anywhere we go together and she doesn't get annoyed if I have to say
'what?' a lot...she knows why I didn't hear her. In really noisy environments, such as a busy restaurant, she speaks up and I lean forward or, depending on the seating arrangement, she makes sure to sit on my 'good' side. In a wedding reception or dinner party situation, I tell the person sitting on my 'deaf side' that I'm deaf in that ear and cannot hear them so if they want my attention, to tap me on the shoulder and I'll respond. I've never encountered any problems doing that.
Unfortunately, discerning sound direction will remain a problem. I'm used to doing a 360° turn to locate who has called me when I'm in an environment where the speaker isn't visible and obvious. In department stores, where my wife and I often go separate ways, we carry Walkie-Talkies to 'find' each other, which beats her yelling my name while I do a graceful but still funny looking pirouette trying to locate where she is. Driving, I can't tell where an ambulance, fire truck or police car siren is coming from until I can see the vehicle. I usually just pull over, if possible, until I can ascertain the direction the emergency vehicle is coming from (behind me, on the opposite side of the road or from a side street). If my wife is with me (frequently but not always) she will immediately tell me where the emergency vehicle is, i.e.
"it's coming up behind us" or
"it's on the other side", etc.
I may be the exception but I've found SSD a handicap but far from a disability. It does take a period of adjustment and time to learn some coping mechanisms as well as some cooperation from your immediate family but eventually, it
does get better. Not your hearing in the affected ear - that's gone - but your ability to cope with SSD. I trust your adjustment will be rapid, Nicole. Please don't allow one unpleasant experience to discourage you. I do just fine - and so will you.
Jim