Hello 'cynful',
Unfortunately there is not much you can do until the strikes wear off in a year. Sometimes life is unfair. When we bid on auctions, it can be a week before we need to pay, - and 4 days after the auction ends most sellers will start the Unpaid Item process. It's all made worse because so many newbies bid on multiples of the same item and think they need only pay for the cheapest. It seems to me someone with a feedback of 923 is not going to suddenly become a nonpayer, but it's how the system is set up.
Accidents and illness can happen to anybody (including those people who believe "it can't happen to me" or that it is only ever used as an excuse to avoid paying), and out on the roads the best & healthiest driver in the world can get clobbered by a drunk. Children's hospitals are full of little kids dying of cancer. Anything can happen to anyone.
For now I'd say why not give ebay a call? In the upper right corner of the ebay site here it says Customer Support. Choose the Customer Support option and then click the Contact eBay tab. They won't be likely be able to remove the strikes, but have all the questions you need to ask written down in advance, and at least the other person will be able to explain ebay's position to you and what, if anything you can do.
The only other thing I can think of is if you see something you want to bid on, as the end of the auction nears you can always contact the seller and explain that you would like to bid but you did get a couple of unintended strikes. As you may have discovered, most seller have autoblocks on user IDs with strikes. If you can assure a seller you are fine now, she might allow you to bid. Same for the 'buy it now' listings. A seller may be willing to make an exception for someone with a buying feedback as high as yours. It's always worth a try.
Best of luck, - and best of health! 🙂
