Paid off a bill I thought I would never clear - any advice?

I paid off a bill that had been weighing on me. This is my first time dealing with any of this. I called the lender and they worked with me. Hoping it is the start of a better run.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 8 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.

Keep everything in writing and save the confirmation numbers. It saved me later.