To be honest Jim, the circumstances of your trip were important to you, but these things happen. The terms & conditions of travel should be laid out on your ticket, or available from the airline (check the website.) Any compensation for lost or delayed luggage should be detailed there. Beyond that, it falls on the individual to insure themselves against whatever risk they need coverage for.
There is no correlation between delayed or misplaced baggage and receiving an upgraded class of travel. Nice try, and there is nothing lost by asking, but in most cases it is not within the gift of check-in agents or representatives to satisfy such a request.
Your situation does highlight the advisability of not placing important documents/medicines/high value items in checked baggage. Much wiser and safer to keep it with you wherever possible.
Where a flight is cancelled (and it happens all over the world) the customer should be able to obtain a refund or transfer on to the next available flight, which of course may not simply be the next flight. Other compensation may be available depending on such factors as statutes within the jurisdiction, the circumstances of the cancellation and the terms contained within the airlines contract of carriage with you. Whatever the situation, it is likely that any claim will need to be made in writing, is likley to take some time, and would need to show where a quantifyable loss actually occurred.
In reality, your best course of action is to write to the address given by the airline setting out the circumstances that give rise to your claim. Include the receipts for all reasonable expenses incurred as a result of your loss, such as replacement clothes/toiletries/etc. Hotel receipts and transportation costs that were unavoidable as a result of this situation. Beyond that if you are still advised that you have suffered a monetary loss that the airline is contractually responsible for, you can go to court and sue for recovery.