Is there really no way to recover your account after microsoft says someone tried to hack it?

My mom's been locked out of her hotmail account that she has been using for forever after being told that someone has been trying to hack into her account.  She is not too computer savy so I have been trying to help her to recover it. We've tried all the routine online avenues and even called microsoft which stated they would start a case and get back to us in 24hrs, a time frame that was never kept but when they eventually answered we were sent here, to read.  Isn't there a way that she can actually get someone in the microsoft tean to help her get her account back instead of sending us around in circles?  She really would prefer not to loose the account since it has all her important school docs and graduation pictures saved in it.

Sincerely,
Amelia