Zoeeeeeee

If you're already married, that would probably explain why your K1 (fiance) visa wasn't granted.

If you're already married, that would probably explain why your K1 (fiance) visa wasn't granted.

If you're already married, that would probably explain why your K1 (fiance) visa wasn't granted.

If you're already married, that would probably explain why your K1 (fiance) visa wasn't granted.

Ouch. It's one of those situations where it's tempting to say "Your lack of planning is not my emergency."
 
Since this is primarily your MIL's problem, how about letting her take the lead in figuring out how to get her meds? She can look up clinics serving low-income Latinos, she can ask someone in Colombia to bring/mail them to her, or if the need is truly dire, she flies back to Colombia and restocks. 
 
Irresponsible people usually depend on the responsible ones to get them out of trouble. Up to you to decide where your boundaries are with your MIL.

If she doesn't have insurance it's probably best to go to her home country for it where it will be way way less expensive. Insurance for elderly alien parents is very difficult -often impossibe- to procure at reasonable prices, especially if she doesn't qualify to be added now when she needs the insurance. In my state you'd  have to wait for open enrollment if you're adding her to your insurance (if that is possible!).
 
Plus, while she's in her home country she can wrap up all those permanent ties she has there that convinced the US to allow her to enter on a tourist visa.

It seems even minor back surgery (whatever that really means for someone in that age bracket) can cost $20k-$50k. I somehow suspect a trip back home for surgery and completing the visa via consular processing is on the cards. ( I may be off base here, but if someone can afford those kind of costs out of pocket I suspect that they would have been paying health insurance already. Because it’s either cost or sheer recklessness that leads to someone having an elderly parent uninsured here.)
 
https://www.drkushwaha.com/education/much-back-surgery-cost/

Wait a minute...OP @debola have you posted here before regarding the same topic? I now vividly remember a Nigerian also posted about this earlier this year or atleast last year. 
 
As @Adventine said, this will probably not earn you much. You cannot live off it. Your grammar is immaculate. Why not look for alternatives? 

Your English , writing and story telling skills are impeccable….

Clinical trial participants in the US are generally not paid.   There are actually extremely strict international laws governing clinical trials.

@Gabriela Gaghana, as someone who has been on these forums for a long time and have seen a few things. Please do not do this. It is not worth it. Too many people have been denied because of it (please see some examples below). People have even been denied for having a engagement ceremony which is not an official marriage. So any type of formal ceremony of the union of a couple is risky to a K1 visa.
 
@biscoito1r, you have to understand what others are trying to tell you. It doesn't matter if the ceremony is official or not, if an immigration officer suspect it to be a marriage it can lead to a denial. But the OP specifically asked about legally getting married prior to the K1, which is a no-no for that visa. Also, Mike E provided evidence of people being denied for doing that very thing. Have you read that thread he posted?
 
If that doesn't convince you it is not a good idea for the OP to get married before their K1, here is more proof of people who did it and got denied.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

True and irrelevant 
My link is a counter example. So you are wrong.  
Your link fails to say that:
 
1. It is essentially advising people to commit visa fraud 
 
2. Nothing prevents CBP from denying entry at the port of entry if it determines there was a wedding ceremony outside the USA 
 
3. Nothing prevents the consulate from canceling the visa if it finds out there was a wedding ceremony 

Yes you can have a wedding ceremony in your country as long as it is not a civil marriage in any way. Later you can enter with your K1 visa and then you must have a civil marriage within the 90 days. Religious or ceremonial marriages are not legally biding in the US.
There are some exceptions depending on the country of course. Some countries consider religious marriage legally biding. So it is a good idea to verify first to make sure.
https://www.sl-immigration.com/fiance-visas-religious-ceremony-abroad/

To All: Thanks for all your input, but I figure the best thing to do is wait for the files to come from my ex-lawyer and see what happened on that day. We're going on memory; and my wording of the situation isn't helping. 

We actually 'registered' our marriage (and by that, I mean signed the license in front of our officiant and a witness) before our wedding too, because we wanted to get the AOS process rolling. We did no vows, we literally just signed it - and then we had a big wedding, with a white dress, vows, weeping mothers and mothers-in-law, etc, a couple of months later (but of course we didn't sign or register anything, because it was already done). 
 
Again, only the OP and OP's wife really know what happened - but I feel like the wording he's used (saying they considered the marriage registered, because that was the day they went to court), sounds more to me like that was the day they got their marriage license. Which would then explain why their marriage date is actually listed a few days later, when they did their vows (and presumably signed the license).

I think the wording you/your wife are using probably isn't helping matters.
 
You're referring to 1st August as being the day she 'registered' the marriage...but that they didn't do the vows until 4th August. 
 
Now, you don't have to say vows to get married. I didn't. What you do have to do is sign the marriage license and then whoever married you (officiant presumably) would need to send off the form. 
 
What your wife did on 1st August was obtain her wedding license - well, that's what I assume, from what you're saying. That's what you go to 'court' to do. You obviously can sign the form there and then and then you are married on the same day - but it doesn't sound like that's what she did, as she did vows 3 days later.
 
I just wanted to highlight that obtaining a wedding license is NOT the same as registering a marriage - in much the same way as booking a hair appointment is not the same as actually having your hair cut. Getting the license enables you to get married - registering the marriage happens after you've actually done the deed and signed the form. 
 
Flagging this, because it may help you avoid further confusion when having this conversation with a lawyer and/or USCIS. 

Best not to mention you have been working illegally.

Its free. 
IT TAKES 6-8  months  compared to 12-24 for the AOS 
you never know when something unexpected is going to come up that requires you to make a trip outside the US 

Need to speak with tier 2; can't stress that enough. The interviewing officer who can basically see the whole profile says there is a 'red flag' regarding I-751. And then tier 1 is telling you oh, no issues at all??? Me personally, I won't buy that. Hopefully, tier 2 calls you back soon.

I would be wary of what a Tier 1 says. 

Congrats. I will just like to say having a Lawyer don't speed up a process with USCIS, it only meant you gave someone else to do the hard work for you. If you look around here, you will run into so MANY threads where this feat was achieved through DIY route, so it's really no big deal. 
 
If one is a good and attentive reader of instructions, then you wouldn't need to pay anyone. For instance, an attorney was going to charge us 5k for the process. Then i looked at the forms, followed the instructions and asked some questions here. No RFe whatsoever!
 
Just so you know, there's someone in one of my Whatsapp group that missed interview and had to reschedule just because the attorney didn't upload documents to the Embassy on time.
 
Attorneys don't speed up processing times, that's a misconception

Congrats on your quick process.  Well, relatively quick.  Only in the world of US immigration is 200+ days "quick".
 
I am glad using a lawyer worked out for you.  But I would hesitate before stating that it is a necessity.  There have been mixed results from posters about the benefits of using a lawyer.  Generally people tend to complain more than compliment; the many negative posts here about incompetent lawyers are probably out of proportion.  But still, they are not insignificant.
 

You see, you don't even know how this thing works. Each person's petition/application is different. Cases go to different service centers, different consulates, different regions, different circumstances, fbi search, etc etc. I won't bore you with other petty instances as it relates to timing but believe me when I say everyone's case is different. And my friend, this can affect when cases are approved. 
Anyway, as I said do you and go for a lawyer. BTW, visajourney is mostly a community for DIYs. Just saying.
Lol, the triggered bit. Hmm, and I wonder who gets triggered more than lawyers. 
Sure; I'll let it go. Congrats on your approval BTW. Hope for more speedy processing with the rest of the process.

You'll pay 'Lewis Hamilton' to drive your car for you? I bet you've learned to drive and don't need a pro to drive you.
How about typing on a computer? You need a pro typist? How about changing a car tire?
You see where I'm going with this? 
There many situations where of cos you'll need assistance of a pro, and there many where you can easily DIY without a pro by following instructions carefully and saving a lot by doing so. 
BTW, during the lockdown my wife learned how to cut my hair the way I cut it, and now she's my pro barber. Haha.
 

If one can afford a lawyer, sure go for it. However, there have also been numerous stories on here where lawyers have also screwed up people's applications or made worse their problems.
Most people on here went the DIY route and have successfully navigated the process with ease including myself. We saved all the money that would have gone to lawyers on vacations.