After almost a year battling with 'professional' editors who did absolutely nothing useful, I FINALLY was able to get my material back from them! $1200 and over 1000 hours of my time wasted!
Now I can proceed on my own. I am starting to work on the final layout, which is going to be closer to what I had before rather than the 'suggested' confusing layout.
I will keep posting updates as things happen. I may again reach out to friends asking for proofreading help.