i have just bought 200gb icloud storage. I have gone to settings and turned on icloud, photos, icoud photos and optimise storage but i cannot find anything downloaded when i visit my iclloud on my laptop? I ahve turned icloud photos on

I have just bought 200gb icloud storage as my iphone7 seems to be struggling (dying) to do anything at moment. i have gone to icloud on my phone> and turned it on (and off and on again) but when i check my icloud on my lap top, there are no photos. There are 24,000 photos. ANy suggestions? I have also tried to upgrade my IOS but this too seems a step too far for my phone right now. Is it irretrievable?