I need some advice, please!

I had some medical and family issues over the past two years. My mom got re-diagnosed with cancer and had to have surgery, my parents are losing their house, my brother got laid off, and I am recently married. Also, my adviser left as soon as I got here and it hasn’t been a good match with the rest of the small faculty.
One (my adviser) is the chair – due to retire soon and not having patience for much of anything I say or my interests. The other is very, very new, just hired, and just out of school and does what the other two say. The third is kind of psycho; had a fit in the hallway because a classmate tried to hold the door open for her.

Anyway, I fell behind on some work – part of the problem was the fact that I took too much on the first two years and got in over my head, and because I didn’t fit in well with the program I became demoralized and lost a lot of my writing confidence. It did not help that I got feedback like “research isn’t about popularity!” on papers when I wrote that some approach was gaining popularity on such and such research field. Isn’t that such a common thing to say? Besides my writing confidence being a barrier my medical issue has been frustrating but not recognized primarily because others didn’t think it was as big a deal as it was. Even some at the health center “rolled their eyes” but in the end, this summer, I had to have surgery and am still spitting out stitched.

I not only fell behind on some of my work but I didn’t tell anything after a while to anyone because of two reasons: 1) I didn’t know when/if I was going to finish it; it seemed overwhelming and my experience at the writing center wasn’t productive (another story not important here) and 2) I didn’t think I could get backing from health center folks or be taken seriously and I was also embarrassed because I didn’t want to go into details about how bad the situation was.

Now I finished my work – classes start soon, but I don’t know how to approach the old profs to still pass me. I got put on probation by my program and told that if I don’t have those classes squared away and my comps (comprehensive exams) submitted by sept 15 I’ll be kicked out.
Since the surgery I have a doctor’s note to say I’ve had a long-standing condition and documents the surgery, and I’ve also felt better. Even though I itch the major irritation is past and I can get off antibiotics for once in two years. The thing is this:

I just started on my comps and I am afraid I will not finish by the 15th of sept: they are 7 sections that require about 7 pages each spanning topics from theoretical orientation to multicultural competency, etc. all written and all, I’m afraid, will be disliked by the faculty. I am still to pick my committee which I have to do by the 15th but I haven’t even turned in the late papers for the other 3 classes I was behind in. Two classes are from two semesters ago and one is from last semester.

My questions are these:

How should I approach the old faculty to get these classes passed, if possible? They can always change grades but will they, especially without a peep from me? How can I max my chances they will?

Any idea how I can get my papers looked over by another party before I turn them in, which is in the next several days, and the writing center isn’t open yet until next week? I want to get some preliminary feedback and at this point I’m not sure who to approach? There are three papers, two finals, and one mid-term, all written narrative.

How should I handle if I need more time for comps and how do I get over the feeling that they won’t like anything I say? It’s paralyzing; one prof once said to me “I love how you write;” however here, I can’t seem to get anything out the way they like. I questioned some BS early on when I was too green, enthusiastic, and looked up to them like they surely would know the answers and didn’t get until a bit too late that the answers I got were all I was going to get. I also criticized a book written by my adviser’s old beloved adviser because I’d missed a class with the story about why the text was picked. I get dismissed a lot and I can’t even clarify what I am trying to say because I get cut off by my adviser and I’m really, really scared. I feel like I can’t make them happy.

How should I approach finding a topic for my dissertation that will please my adviser? I choose from the topics they like and I look at other past studies they chaired, however, every time I propose something they not only doesn’t like it but doesn’t help me straighten it out or tell me what I could do to improve; they question me on “why do you have to do this or that” and tells me what I do wrong but never what I do or could do right. I have some ideas but I need to run them by someone and I don’t know who, just to see if they are realistic and what variables are best to pick, what research method would fit best, etc. I swear I gauge pretty well that my ideas/thoughts aren't that outlandish from the rest of the students but mine are treated like they are from Pluto.

Thanks for any help/advice!!! Please someone answer...