Hi Joni,
Thanks for the update. It looks like you can do this. Unfortunately, the catch is that you have to take action within 14 days of linking your YouTube account to Google+ (see https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3056283?hl=en&ref_topic=3097177). As you said, Google+ is constantly making changes, and you are certainly not the only person out there with this problem. In the meantime, I would contact Google about your situation via the form on this page - https://support.google.com/youtube/contact/ytgplus. Make sure to use the email address associated with your YouTube account, and please keep us posted. Best of luck!