House calls were common in those early years for Dr. Carlton, and he made thousands. A satchel stayed in the car for emergency calls, night or day. He recalls one patient having a heart attack; he called an ambulance and rushed to the patient's home. The patient was stabilized before the ambulance arrived, which took her to the hospital. She gave him credit for helping her live a full life for several years. When a baby was to be delivered, he took a nurse along. "When you have some sick as blazes and talk with them on the phone, you take off. Zoom! That's why it's good to have two doctors on duty. Usually, I would be there in 30 minutes, speeding, of course. Thank goodness, most of the State Troopers knew me."

Charles Neal, who grew up in Lecompte, praised Dr. Carlton for always being available. He took calls at home and assured the caller he would meet them at the clinic. Another time for being grateful was when his entire family was in the bed with the flu. Dr. Carlton came and stayed a long time dispensing meds and working with his sister.

Dr. Carlton trained his own nurses, preferring to hire someone who had no experi­ence. Thus, he didn't have to "untrain" them to his way of practicing.

Since elementary school he wanted to be a doctor, so he enjoyed his job with a jolly attitude, making it fun to work with him. Very upbeat, he encouraged employees and patients. One young receptionist was afraid to ask patients for their name, but he helped her overcome her shyness, and she became a valuable employee. As he told this interviewee, "What I wanted was to practice good medicine. What the patient needed done, then do it. I couldn't imagine having better friends than the Specialists in Alexandria. I delivered many babies for OB-GYNs, and they delivered mine, for I couldn't get there in time."

There was no limit to his giving time and expertise. Having grown up during the Depression, he understood not having money to pay the doctor; many times he sent out a note of "no charge" realizing that the patient could not pay his fee and medicine. "You had to give the impression that you had all day long (with a patient), but move them along. Sometimes 1 was there at dark. Eventually, 1 had to do my cases at Cabrini (Hospital). The nurses opened the clinic and had everyone lined up by the time i got there. We did have a doctor and nurses one night a week at the clinic."

Tonsillectomies were done in the clinic with open-drop ether. "I watched them the rest of their lives without them knowing it; examine to see if any tissue came back." Polio was still raging when he started practicing. "That had to run its course for there was no treatment for it-just do a tracheotomy to help breathing. You could tell that a child had polio by the scar. My oldest sister had it. You can have polio and not know it."

Dr. Carlton's reputation as a good doctor spread around the state. He became the Louisiana State Chair, March of Dimes, 1971-72. This led to acquaintance with Beverly Sills (Metropolitan Opera) and Arnold Palmer, No.1 golfer at the time.

Also during the 1970s, his vision brought to our governor and legislators and some national legislators the idea of the Health Savings Account: high deductible plan for non-catastrophic occasions. He understood that the direction medicine was going that insurance and institutions would be drained. Then he became President of Louisiana Medical Society in 1979 followed by leading the Organization of State Medical Association Presidents.

In the busy professional life, Dr. Carlton and Marilyn had three children: Carolyn, David, and Andy. They added six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.