wov I got all stressed just reading about this, even though it happened almost 25 years ago :-) It makes me remember similar close calls we have had with vacations etc where our passports arrived only a week before our departure. we found out fairly late that our passports had to be valid for at least 2 or 3 month after planned return, which is weird, but I suppose its to make sure that they dont run out, if people decide to stay longer or get delayed.
we havent had anything as close as this, and we never had to actually change the tickets though