2004 A/C Failure

I have a 2004 that I purchased in Jan '05 with just over 10K miles on it, after taking out a LARGE deer with my previous Prius (90k miles on that one). I'm now at 271k and my first non-maintenance repair issue has occurred. My A/C was working fine one day, then *nothing* the next. Hot air, and nothing else. Had my regular service place (not dealer) check it during my regular oil change. Found the refrigerant was out, and did a little digging. They suspected a bad compressor, and referred me to the dealer. Upon recommendation from a friend, had another non-dealer check it the next day ( Wow, no Freon, and we can't locate the leak!). So I bit the bullet and took it to the dealer.
Here's where it starts to hurt....Told me at drop-off probably $200 to diagnose! Called me back later with their findings.... found a "small" leak and fixed it, but now $2530 to replace the compressor and evaporator. THEN, they suspect the amplifier may be out as well, but they won't know until they fix the other issue. That is another $500 just for the part!!!! AAAck!!
Not sure I want to put that much into fixing the a/c in a car this old/this many miles. I'm pretty handy with fixing things, but not this. And not a lot of non-dealer options in my area who will work on hybrids.
Ideas?