Please help! Sand & Clouds!

[Lindsey]

I just purchased a home with an inground pool. The people who lived here previously didn't close it right of course. So when we took the cover off it was a green and very stinky swamp! The first thing we did was scoop out the hundreds of pounds of leaves and filled the pool. Then we put in 4 gallons of liquid shock and 10oz of algaecide (as recommended by the local pool store). We filled the pool high and vacuumed on waste, and the next day added 4 more gallons of liquid shock and more algaecide...then out of frustration I went to walmart at midnight that night and bought the powder super shock and poured in 3lbs of that hoping for a miracle the next morning. No luck. Although, it isn't any shade of green anymore.. it is more of a cloudy blue/beige! So I vacuumed again this evening and realized when I was winding up the hose it was full of sand. I ran my hand down the side of the pool liner and it feels like sandpapaper..when I went to put the ladder in a week ago I remembered scrubbing it first because it also felt like sandpaper. I don't know if the previous owners tried to change the sand and messed something up or what. There is nothing indicating that sand is coming in through the jets as far as I can tell. I held a nylon skimmer sock over the jets and it came up clear..I don't know how else to check! All I know is that I have to backwash at least 5-10 times per day because the jets lose their flow. I'm at a loss and about out of money to throw in this thing..I just want to swim in a clear pool! I used a 6-way test strip and here's what I get..
Total Hardness ppm: 200
Free Chlorine/Bromine ppm: 5/10
pH: 7.2
Total Alkalinity ppm: 120
Cyanuric Acid ppm: 0

According to these strips everything is good except CYA. I have always had a pool growing up but my parents paid people to do this stuff! I can't afford that! Tonight, I have decided to leave the pump OFF until morning to see if it is all the sand being stirred up that is keeping it cloudy, maybe with it off it will all settle?. I am praying to be able to see the bottom and vacuum the sand in the morning. Of course tonight it just started thundering and sprinkling. I am about to fill the whole damn thing with dirt and plant some grass! HELP!

Thanks
Lindsey