Retrieve photos?

When I purchased PSE 13 I had an email address that no longer exists.  Since then, my computer crashed and I lost all of my photos.  When I tried to enter into my account I could not because my old email address is no longer valid.  I opened up a new account with my current email address.  I chatted for several hours trying to find a solution.  The first person I chatted with sent me to another person who told me to stay on the line and he would send me to customer support.  After waiting 30 minutes customer support never came on line.  I opened a new chat and explained my problem giving them my case number.  She send me to this forum.  I do not understand why this is such a big problem because people change their email addresses all the time.  Is there anyone who can help me?