Hi Jeff...my wife has had both cataracts done and also had a toric lens put in to correct her astigmatism. She went from very short sighted to the point where she can read far away with out glasses and was told she really didn't need glasses at all to drive.
My condition is called Ischemic Optic Nephropathy. They said it looks like a piece of plaque broke off and went up into my left optical nerve killing about 75% of it. They described it as like the optic nerve had a heart attack as the blood supply got cut of due to the blockage. It hasn't really affected me much but was hard to get used to at first. But the brain is a magnificent machine and will compensate for any problems. For instance....our daughter was born deaf and having lost one of her senses her other senses pick up things much faster than we would do. Like vision and sense of feeling like something coming up behind her. She feels the vibrations where we wouldn't. People were shocked when she started driving saying she can't hear but I said she's not blind and is more aware of what's around her than they were. She is a real good driver. I have no problems driving at all and drove a forklift without anyone detecting I had a problem. When I retired my boss said "I was the best driver he had" but his jaw dropped when I told him of my eye problem.
You're absolutely right Jeff...old age isn't for wimps but better than the alternative. As my buddy says "If I'd known I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself".
Thanks for asking