You ought to have put a Caveat in your Passport Cover letter as that would have speeded up the processing in your favor.
You can send them a mail or Case Sensitive Enquiry informing them of your predicaments. I tell you buddy,Visa officers are humans and they understand our feelings.
Do not hesitate in reaching out to them as I had read from Post June 26 NOC's thread where lots of members stated their position in their Passport Envelope and not only did they acknowledged it but also called the applicants to confirm if a particular date is ok by the applicant.
For affirmation,kindly post this on Post July 26,2010 Thread and you will receive a concrete response.
Also PM Canadestin,Mitali,Qorax and Cappucino for urgent reply.
Best wishes.