Rapture, I'm very sorry to hear about your dear cousin. Two thoughts here- many people make amazing recoveries so don't be discouraged by what you just saw.
The second thing is I'm your age and also have cataracts, same for my friend. She had the surgery and her eyesight is better than since she was a little girl. I'm going to have mine done and if I do as well as she my vision will be nearly perfect. All she needs now are mild reading glasses for needlework and reading. And my eyes aren't nearly as bad as hers were before the surgery.