missantarctica5

appleinsideruser said:

You’re welcome Sandy and sounds like a perfect outcome! You’ll be back up and running in minutes/hours/days/weeks/months... (delete as appropriate).

If you know someone handy with a (special) screwdriver you can order a replacement SSD and fit it yourself. You will need lots of Google help again, but you can buy RAM and SSDs from https://www.crucial.com/ and avoid the long drive to Apple. Use https://www.ifixit.com/Search?query=macbook pro 2013 to get instructions on the SSD swap job. Once you’ve done the swap, you can restore from your new currently-still-in-progress backup.

An SSD will make a huge difference! So however you choose to do it, don’t replace your existing, dying HD with a traditional spinning hard drive (Apple might insist on this, but don’t do it, it’ll be sooo sloooow). Extra RAM (at least 8 GB) will also be nice and will help you enjoy your MacBook for a few more years!

Cheers
Dave

Hi Dave, a quick update for you.  The Apple people were able to upgrade storage to 1 TB SSD, memory to 16 GB and restore all my data from backup :-).  It didn't break the bank and I was able to pick up the same day.  I keep my little My Passport attached and it backs up every hour.  
At home, I upgraded my OS to High Sierra from Yosemite, which I needed to run Adobe Lightroom. 
So a happy ending to my story! 
Thanks again for all of your wonderful help. 
Merry Christmas and all the best in 2020!
Sandy