I lost the hearing in my right ear at age 11 on Friday the 13th in 1977.  Diagnosed with "sudden deafness from unknown cause" I went on with life not giving my hearing loss much thought.  My friends used to kid me about not hearing in stereo and of course the joke in high school when I would slow dance with a girl and she would put her head on my right shoulder any time she spoke I thought she was blowing in my ear.  But I did well in school and sports, graduated from Montana State University and set out on my career in sales.  22 years later while working out at the gym in Omaha Nebraska lightning struck again.  As I finished  a set on the bench press I felt my left ear plug up like it was filled with water.  I didn't give it too much thought as I blew my nose and tugged on my ear trying to clear it.  But as I continued my workout I noticed that voices and the music in the gym were starting to get foggy and I knew it was happening again.  I went to the house phone and called my Mom long distance.  When she answered I said, "Mom, do you love me?" She replied, "Joe, you know I do", and I said "You have to say the words because it will be the last time I ever hear it."  Within 4 hours I had lost all the hearing in my left ear and was 100% deaf.  Fortunately for me, I was referred to Dr. Britt Thedinger who first performed exploratory surgery to see if he could restore my hearing.  After surgery he told me that he believed I was deaf but inside everything was pink and normal, there was nothing to fix but we would give it 30 days to see if it would come back on its own.  At the end of 30 days when my hearing did not return he told me that it was a million to one chance that I would lose the hearing in my 2nd ear but now it was a billion to one that it would ever come back.  He said I had 2 choices; learn sign language or get a Nucleus 22 Cochlear Implant.  I had never even heard of a cochlear implant but felt I was too old to learn a new language so we scheduled the implant surgery.  Almost 90 days after going deaf they hooked up my external Spectre 22 and I could hear again!  It was the longest and scariest 90 days of my life.  Getting the implant turned out to be the beginning of a whole new adventure for me that continues to this day.  I was able to resume my sales career which eventually lead to opening my own consulting company.  The implant has brought me full circle, 11 years later I am now the Awareness Network Manager for Cochlear in the Southwest.  I have had lots of fun and funny experiences along the way I would be happy to share. I am just now realizing how many others there are out there who have also had great success and I am learning from their experiences.  The Cochlear Community is a great tool to share with and learn from others and to just connect with people who can relate.  I am excited to be a part of it!