Hi and welcome from me too. Sorry to hear about your illness and hope you are recovering well.
With your relatively small amount of debt, have you thought of doing a debt management plan? This way you will pay off all of your debt, just over a longer period. It is not guaranteed that interest and charges will be frozen though.
Who are your creditors? If one of them holds the majority of the debt, you might find it difficult to get an IVA.
Bankruptcy is another option and is nowhere near as daunting as you think. It costs £495, all your debts are written off and you can be discharged within a year, sometimes sooner. Dependent upon your income, you may have to pay money across for three years.
I recommend you phone an IP and discuss things with them. They will go through all the options with you and recommend a suitable course of action for you.
Visit
www.iva.com where you will find lists of companies to call. The advice is free.
There are several advisors who post on here who come highly recommended, such as Melanie Giles, Andy Davie, VikiW to name but a few. You will find their contact details under the expert link on the left hand side of the page.
Give them a call.
