Sorry you lost the hearing in your left ear so suddenly. Do you still have good hearing in right ear? Consider yourself lucky if you do. I also lost the hearing in my left ear suddenly following a right neck dissection to remove lymph nodes for biopsy in trying to determine the extent of cancer in my throat. The hearing in my right ear had already gone years before and I greatly depended on my left ear. The loss was devastating on top of having to go through radiation and chemotherapy at the same time. Like you, nothing can be done for me to regain normal hearing and so I also have hearing aids. What people don’t understand is all they do is amplify sound, not clarity! Also, people think because you have them everything with your hearing is normal so they continue talking indirectly to you, mumble, and speak softly. Phone conversation is particularly difficult for me especially if the other person talks rapidly, isn’t fluent in English, or uses a headset device or speaker box. Unfortunately it limits us tremendously, especially socially. Regrettably it hasn’t gotten any better or easier to live with since I lost the hearing putting me in this situation.