Sister Susan Carter found herself close to death during her couple’s mission at BYUH. In early November 2014, a blister formed on her foot due to chafing from a pair of sandals. She treated it herself with a bandage, Neosporin, alcohol, a pharmacist’s special wash, and careful attention.
For three weeks, the blister responded sporadically to treatment by beginning to heal and partially close up, but then it would open up again. Finally it did heal over, and she felt fine.
When Sister Carter later became sick, she was positive she had a nasty case of flu. She had a fever, chills, uncontrollable trembles, and extreme fatigue. She took ibuprofen and felt better, then began to feel worse in the following days. In addition, a third infection weakened her physical health.
On Nov. 21, 2014, the Carters were on their way home from Costco when Sister Carter began to suffer from severe chills—truly uncontrollable shaking. She could see that she had caught the flu. At home, she took aspirin and laid down, when her distress was eased somewhat.
In the middle of the night, a sudden and excruciating abdominal pain awakened her. The pain was so strong she thought she had appendicitis. She lay still for a bit, then got up, and just as suddenly as the abdominal pain had appeared, so did a “flaming red ball of swollen mass on the back of my thigh, so sore I could not touch it. The lump was the size of a large grapefruit, fiery pain, and beet red in color,” she said.
Its appearance was so sudden that she knew she was in serious trouble, so she woke her husband. He could immediately see how sick she was. “I knew she was worsening by the second,” he said. “Within two minutes, I dressed, set Susan on a chair, gave her a priesthood blessing while she was nearly incoherent, mostly carried her to the car, and began the blazing-fast trip to Kahuku Hospital.”
At Kahuku, emergency room techs tried to stabilize her while Elder Len Carter watched the monitors, seeing his wife’s heart rate at 36 (normal is 75). Elder Carter was emotional as he recounted the frightening events. “I heard the monitor stop twice. Her heart stopped twice! Then the slow, weak heart beat again. How am I going to tell the kids and grandkids that I’m going to be coming home alone? I did not know how I would be able to tell them.”
He continued, “ER techs felt they could not administer antibiotic until they knew what the cause was.” Elder Carter instinctively knew she was dying, and his insistent plea was, “Give her something!”
The doctors administered a broad-spectrum antibiotic, and Sister Carter was prepared for transport to Castle Hospital. The ambulance drivers warned Elder Carter not to try to follow them, since they would be driving fast. Elder Carter didn’t heed those words. “I glued myself to the bumper, and I never lost sight of that ambulance,” he said.
At Kailua’s Castle ER, it was determined that Sister Carter had sepsis, a life-threatening complication of an infection throughout the entire bloodstream. The attending doctor gave Sister Carter immediate attention. The antibiotic had probably saved her, but also messed up the diagnosis.
“It was impossible to treat if they couldn’t determine what it was,” said Elder Carter. She was in excruciating pain.
Dr. Joyner, an infectious disease specialist, was called in. “This good doctor is such a brilliant man. He knew everything, every question to ask, and he knew the answers to every problem. He was the most tremendous medical blessing we could have asked for,” said Elder Carter.
Dr. Joyner asked Sister Carter if she had a cut or an open sore lately, because they were having a hard time isolating exactly what the bacteria was due to the administering of the earlier antibiotic.
Through a urine sample taken at Kahuku, Dr. Joyner was able to pinpoint it down to Strep A: flesh-eating bacteria. Immediately, massive amounts of a specific drug were administered, one dose right after another. For the rest of the day, Sister Carter lay in a further-deteriorating condition, but Dr. Joyner continued the intensive treatment with the antibiotic.
On Sunday, Sister Carter was not showing improvement; the bacterial infection was still progressing. Doctors began to deal with the huge swollen mass on the back of her leg. This was a mass of infection on the inside of the leg. If it were to burst, it would release much more poison into her blood stream, and they would be unable to save her.
Elder Carter stepped into the hallway and saw two missionaries. With their assistance he gave his wife a blessing. He said, “There was not much more that needed to be said in addition to, ‘You will get well,’ and, ‘You will recognize that this is by the Lord’s will.’”
By Monday, her condition had worsened, but Dr. Joyner did not alter or add to the antibiotic regimen. Elder Carter said of Dr. Joyner, “He left no stone unturned for her recovery. We trusted him completely due to his dedication and expertise.”
On Tuesday, Sister Carter was still in extreme pain and the morphine was less effective. She couldn’t breathe and an X-ray showed fluid in her lungs. “I can’t do another day, Len,” she told her husband. Elder Carter said he could read that on her face; there were no hysterics, no panic, but truly, a resignation.
Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, was the first day Sister Carter felt she might live. Elder Carter went home to shower and change. He had been by his wife’s side for those six harrowing days. She was released from the hospital on Sunday, Nov. 30, still so weak that she could not get out of bed alone.
“This is so deadly. It has taken such a long, long time to turn around,” said Sister Carter. She was on antibiotics until February. Six weeks later, Sister Carter was back on campus. Sister Carter tutors 30 EIL students every week, and Elder Carter teaches in the Religion Department.