do you use the twentyten theme?
If so read this: http://go.rvoodoo.com/WPchild
it’s an explanation, and child theme tutorial
never edit twentyten basically, use a child theme
The theme would have been overwritten with a new copy if you used the default twentyten theme and did not rename it or create a child theme.
Thanks again for the advice, and Rev Voodoo for your WPchild tutorial.
Have created the child with its own style.css, header.php, and footer.php,
and re-done a Twentyten download and reinstall. Looks like my emergency escape buttons are there on top and bottom of all pages, and everything else functioning correctly. Thank you!