"I'm changing from a Chevette to a Lamborghini."

Mike Gray, who is 44, had struggled to hear much of anything since he was a toddler. With hearing aids and by reading lips he could, in most circumstances, communicate. But his deafness had always held him back — from education, jobs, dreams. He was tired of funny looks and rolled eyes. Of saying "Pardon?" Of missing all those jokes at work, even the ones at his expense.

This year, Gray decided, he would become his best self.

On Aug. 23, he got a cochlear implant, which bypasses damaged hair cells in the inner ear and sends sound electronically to the brain.

Read more at the Tampa Bay Times.