Hello Jimbo,
I had GK 5 years ago and still have some usable hearing in my AN (right side) ear but it is minimal. Basically I can hear loud sounds which can help orient me to a degree, but my ability to hear words clearly is severely compromised due to the damage the AN has done. I've lost some hearing in my left ear due to aging. My word discrimination (the ability to clearly hear words when I am tested) has been all over the place with each test ranging from 40% to 20% to 30% to 10% back up to 20%, then last year dropping down to 0% and this year back up to 20%. I believe this is a bit unusual for someone post GK, however I was also told to expect complete hearing loss by roughly 5 years post treatment and that hasn't happened either. When I do hear words in my AN ear they sound very far away and like someone is speaking to me underwater - it's very distorted. Due to this type of hearing loss a normal hearing aid would do nothing. My audiologist suggested I try the Phonak Bi Cros and I did roughly 6 months post GK. Best thing, I could have ever done! They are fabulous. I adjusted very quickly to them and wear them every day.
I'm not sure which side your AN is on, but in my case here's the big plus I noticed immediately with the Cross Aids. Driving!
With an AN in my right ear, every time I had someone in the car when I was driving it was very difficult to hear them. You have the sound of traffic going past you on your left side and then the person sitting on your AN side may or may not be looking in your direction when speaking, so what you hear is limited. With the Cros in my AN ear it picks up the person speaking beside me whether they are looking at me or not. I can easily hear their voice and I no longer struggle to have a conversation when driving.
There are many people who adjust perfectly fine to single sided hearing loss, but personally, I find the Bi Cros a huge aid in my quality of life - not just for driving, but at work, social settings, meetings etc.
Might be worth looking into a bit further.
Cathie