Twenty-five years ago, a woman told her husband and common practitioner that she accidentally swallowed a felt-tip pen. They didn’t believe her at the age, and immediately they’re eating their words.
In a bizarre medical tale, doctors in Britain affirm that they removed an intact pen from a woman’s stomach — and it still writes, according to a condition report published in the British Medical Journal.
Dr. Oliver Richard Waters and his colleagues learned the missing writing utensil after the 76-year-ancient patient started complaining of weight loss and diarrhea. The doctors found severe diverticulosis — a disease characterized by small bulging pockets from the colon commonly found in elderly human beings — and although the pen did not cause the intestinal issues, doctors chose to remove the foreign body anyway.
“Most gastroenterologists will have tales of coins, batteries, bits of meat etc, however this is one of the oddest simply since it sat there for so extended unnoticed,” Dr. Waters told the Huffington Advertise in an e-letter.
Dr. Waters added that the pen was “also corroded to see a brand designation” and that he has no brand loyalty regarding writing utensils.
So, who swallows a pen?
CTV News clarifies:
The woman says she remembers standing on a locate of stairs, using a palm mirror and the felt-tip pen to investigate a lump on her tonsil. Why she was standing on the stairs while doing this isn’t clear; perhaps the blaze was bigger there. In any condition, the woman managed to slip and fall and swallow the pen whole.
The doctors took the pen and wrote the term “hello” on a piece of paper.
Distinct reports indicate that the woman is immediately in excellent health.
And that’s all she wrote.
Check outside more photos in the incredible X-rays slideshow:
DOWNLOAD: Francesca Woodman