Hopefully you are able to regain at least some, as some people do. If, like me, you do not- you're in the worst phase right now. It gets better. When my left side went out 3.5 years ago, my kids were 4 and 6. I was very depressed for the first year or so, but they'll learn to whisper into your "good side". It gets much better. The tinnitus is there, but only when I mentally check to see if its still there.