disk utility gives red warning: need to reformat drive

So, this is my first time at this sad point :eek:. My macbook (2010) had been getting slower and slower and I ran numerous disk utility first aids. The drive was always repaired but the problem persisted. In another attempt at first aid I tried OnyX. That is when the grey screen of OS X Utility options showed up. The only option that worked was to reinstall OS Mavericks on an external drive. I know that I need to reformat my macbook drive. I'm wondering what I can do to retrieve any information from the last 2 days (I backed up 2 days ago) aside from taking it into the shop for likely an absence of a week or more.

via ehMac.ca http://ift.tt/1g8y9Zq