Morning Vicki!
Hope today finds you doing better than the first day out of surgery, if so, then you are on the "right" track. It might be a slow track, but if you find yourself doing better then it certainly is good! You are right in that most people do not understand what it's like to be SSD, and don't try to expect them to understand. This is not understood until it happens to you. When in a group setting to help you with hearing try to put people on your "good" side so you will be able to better hear them, don't expect them to move to your good side. The sooner you take control of what is gone the sooner you will be able to cope. There is a "list" of helpful hints I put out there under "hearing issues" that will help with the frustration we SSD'ers deal with. I hope your hearing returns for your sake and may you have continued healing with better balance each passing day.