Lots of excellent information here, I will be copying for reference. Please tell us about your Symfony experience?
re: "But I wonder if targeting distance and wearing glasses for computing/near is a better option."
Its all personal choice, what is best varies for each person. It depends on how much you'd like to get rid of correction and when (and since you are a high myope, the risk that they may be slightly off in the lens power since it isn't an exact thing, even with ORA which some are skeptical will do better, so you may need to rethink the 2nd eye after the first is done).
The nice thing about having good intermediate vision is (depending on the exact range you target) that in addition to being on the computer, its useful for most household tasks, social distance at a meal or meeting, and TV (depending on distance). After having been a high myope and needing correction all my life, its nice to not need glasses/contacts around the house. Though I went with the Symfony to get a larger range, most of my vision tasks are in the intermediate range so I appreciate that aspect the most.
However in your case with monofocals to target that, you may need both distance glasses, and reading glasses for anything near. If you do target distance, you can then get one pair of progressive glasses to help with intermediate&near both, but are going to be wearing them more often.
I should probably create another thread vs hijacking this one so to speak.
Another visit with the ophthalmologist this past Friday. Still targeting intermediate/intermediate via monofocal IOLs. When I asked for IOL details, they claimed they won't know for sure until the day of surgery with ORA used after lens extraction. I know they attempted to use one machine to do some eye measurements that was hampered by the congenital cataracts and go in again this week where another machine will be used.
I'm having doubts on going intermediate vs distance. The decision on intermediate was based on my lifestyle (12+ hours per day computing and low driving working from home). But I wonder if targeting distance and wearing glasses for computing/near is a better option. They discussed mono-vision options as well (like the suggestion w/ the right eye 2 meters out) and they seemed to think that decision could be made after the left eye was done and how I respond/like the corrected eye.
I also plan on drilling them on IOL details. I still have time. Just want to make sure I'm making the right choices in a land of confusion. :) Can't thank SoftwareDeveloper & CBCT for the info and insights.
My current contact prescription is -11 left, -12.50 right. That, at best, gets me 20/40 in the right eye. Due to where the congenital cataract is in the left eye, I don't see anything clear with it regardless of strength. Just got by with what I could.
I may be getting confused with the options, the pros/cons of each and which would be right for me with most activities I do now and the future. I do compute more than anything else so, initially, the thought of seeing that most clearly at arm's length seemed good. But now I think some answers to some questions first so I scheduled some consulting time.
Thanks again for the info.
Regarding Crystalens -- I would not recommend them. I had them implanted in both eyes. The surgeries were one week apart. Accommodation was minimal and I had very severe positive dysphotopsia and light sensitivity. A year later I had both lenses exchanged for monofocal lenses and I am much happier. Good luck with your decision.