illness during plan

[c.v.]

I have been in chapter 13 for 42 months. total debt was 56000.00 I have paid 39000.00+ so far. It has been a long struggle. except for 4 weeks in fall of 2003 when I was locked out during a labor dispute on my job, i haven't missed any payments. part of the debt was secured because my husband didn't file, so i had to repay joint debts in full.None of the balance includes late mortgage payments, we were current when I filed, we pay that ourselves, even though its part of the plan.I have been very adament about finishing this 60 month plan. my husband was unemployed for 9 months in 2003-2004 but we tried to survive on his unemployment and what i bring home after my plan amount is deducted. it has been hard .there have been time we haven't had food. and my car needs repair , luckily i live close to work. my husband does'nt make as much as he did when the plan started. i think most of the secured has been paid, or almost paid for, i only get a statement once a year from the plan. my question is , I need to have surgery ,it is not elective, but it's not life threatening either but is very neccessary. i would have to be off work for 6-7 weeks i don't think i can have my plan modified because it is already 60 months long and after paying all this money i don't want to do a chapter 7 because i dont want to lose our home.the reason we got in to debt to begin with was my husbands company of 25 years closed and our kids were little and we were trying to keep up with things. no one from his company got any severance or anything.he didnt file because he had just got a truck for work and i didnt' want it to be included in the plan and he has heart problems and i thought it would be too stressful for him, and it worked out better anyway since the job he was laid off in 2003 the investers sold when the price of steel went skyhigh. and my job is more reliable. anyway i would like some advice, i go back to the doctor in july and he wants to schedule surgery and i don't know what to do .the pain from standing all day is getting unbearable and my insurance from work would cover everything 100% so i don't have to worry about that. thanks