Looking for continued input for SSHL

have been trolling this site for about five weeks now. I’m very grateful for your input in every post. Six weeks ago I had a total knee replacement. I went home the day of surgery and was doing well. It was 24 hours almost to the minute when I stood up to go to the restroom and had to sit back down because of sudden and acute dizziness. The dizziness was something I had not experienced before because instead of the room moving something inside my head moved. A very strange sensation. I immediately heard a noise in my right ear and I became nauseous and started to throw up. This lasted about 16 hours. The next morning, I still had the ringing in my right ear and I realized I could not hear in my right ear. I was able to get in to see the ENT the following day. So 48 hours after the first symptom, I started prednisone for 10 days. I was completely deaf in my right ear. The tinnitus was a loud waterfall. The vomiting had passed, but the occasional nausea remained. The ENT felt like, in their experience, It was always due to some unknown sudden viral infection. Nothing could be proven and no medicine was ordered for a viral infection. An MRI was ordered, but it was a week before I could be seen anywhere. Meanwhile, I came home and started looking up SSHL post total knee replacement. And there is documented literature of this happening after a total knee replacement. There’s also documentation of this happening after spinal anesthesia. I had spinal anesthesia and a knee replacement. The idea after the knee replacement is that you threw a micro fat emboli which is also never proven. The idea behind the spinal complication is that it was a combination of a disruption of cerebral spinal fluid and hypotension. I feel like the later two explanations were more reasonable in my case. I also received one dose of vancomycin, which has been noted to cause hearing loss but typically not with one dose. The treatment options seem to be prednisone by mouth and Decadron tympanic injection. I had both. Other options were hyperbaric oxygen treatment, but Medicare would not cover this. The MRI proved to be negative. I think everyone knew that it was going to be negative. So my hearing has not come back but what I’m writing about today is the Revelation to me of what it’s like to be deaf in one ear and have tinnitus. It has been very humbling. I no longer have any sense of direction for where the sound is coming from. The sound could be coming from behind me and I think that the sound is coming in front of me. Absolutely no idea. The left ear has a hard time hearing over the noise coming from the right ear. And as the group already knows the noise is in your brain, not in your ear. The other odd thing is that my right ear and the right side of my face feels numb, but it is not. The tinnitus is such a light sounding word for such a troublesome condition. It is not just a single noise. It can be a waterfall or it can be ringing. But it is also other noises super imposed on that evolving background noise. For instance, if someone talks loudly, it actually vibrates and echoes in my ear at yet another sound level. If someone hugs me on my right side, it squeals like my hearing aid is off position . And sometimes the shrill whistle is so loud I can hardly bear it. It is very humbling. I realize there are many worse things in the world and I realize I am blessed. Nevertheless, I’m very concerned as I read that people with hearing loss have a higher incidence of depression, dementia, and less socialization. I am concerned about driving. It is life-changing. The ENT is not encouraging. They say that Medicare doesn’t often cover cochlear implant- and cochlear implant may or may not help the tinnitus. I realize there are a few other options to try that appear to be hit and miss. Anyway, I am happy to be in this group and I will continue to look forward to input from other people who are dealing with this condition. Best regards to all.