Your CC agreement you agreed to upon accepting the credit card did state you would pay the minimum balance (Charges), and since you did not dispute this at that time the CC issuer is in the right. That being said, most issuers are sympathetic to situations and I would personally call and ask for a supervisor and politely tell them your story and ask them to reconsider these charges, all while reminding them of who valued of a customer you have been. My experience has been that the will write off these charges as customer "good will".

Jim