Adjustment of Status - I-485

Hi all,
Disclaimer; this is a long post to help those who feel they hit a snag aware that everything is possible and possibly ways they can go around to ensure their applications are processed.
I entered the DV lottery for 2012. If you remember due to a glitch results got cancelled. So to start, I was not selected on the first round of the lottery. By God’s grace I was selected the second time. I was already in US so I was adjusting status. Fast forward to processing papers and I sent everything as required. My biometrics was in July 2012. Lo and behold, I get a yellow letter asking me to submit paperwork stating I am either adjusting status due to marriage to US citizen, refugee/asylum status or based on work. Called customer service and they read out the same later sent to me. Requested to speak to next level IO and two of them one female and one male instructed me to write a letter stating my status change under DVL and also to attach the DVLottery confirmation letter that says I was selected. Sent it July and never heard anything or had any updates online until I called 09/21/2012 only to get info they are processing April 2012. Called again on Monday 09/24/2012 and the person said the same thing.
Here I am feeling depressed and worried I hear a call come through to the house phone on Tuesday morning. I ignored it because I knew everything is falling apart because my F1 visa had already expired a couple of months prior so I just did not want to deal with anything. Woke up at 10am and found a missed call and VM on my cell phone. Listened to it and dashed to listen to the one on the house phone and it was the same IO telling me to call back ASAP and schedule a good time for me to go in for an interview before the beginning of the new month.
I called back and scheduled interview for Friday at 2pm since she could not make it on Thursday. Got there on time only to find the offices closed. Panic mode sets in and 20seconds later, a person in security uniform opens the door from inside and asks for my name and ID. He then allows me in and the IO who called a few days earlier comes and gets me. We enter her office and she swears me in and continue with the interview. After interview and confirmation of records, I asked her what happened because I received a call for the interview instead of getting the notice. That is when she explained that they have contractors who they call in to help with the work from time to time and they may not know or aware of the DVlottery process. So one of them may have handled my paperwork but since the person was not aware of the process, just put it on a pile of missing documents yet in essence had everything needed. I asked what would have happened if paperwork was not processed by October 2012 and she said it would be shredded. She told me how when I called on Monday the IO I spoke to noticed the discrepancy and called her stating she was fedex overnighting my paperwork. Therefore, when she got to work on Tuesday morning my paperwork was already on her desk and was handling it first priority before the DV Lottery year ends.
For anyone doing a change of status just keep following up and probably if it helps request to escalate to and IO to get proper communication on what to do. Stuff may have changed from 5 years ago too, so research is also good. I am going for citizenship right now and from what I am reading from other people seems like the process is even longer if going for Naturalization. Partly because of backup in background checks.
Good Luck and blessings to you all