If you swallow a pen, will it still write when removed decades later?

Based on a recent case report about a UK woman, we now know two things:

1) If you swallow a felt-tip pen, it may not show up on an x-ray
2) If you say you’ve swallowed a felt-tip pen, nobody is going to believe you

Twenty-five years ago a British woman was checking her tonsils with a mirror and a felt-tip pen. According to an NPR report, “She slipped and the pen went down her throat.”

X-rays taken at the time didn’t show a pen, so nobody believed she actually swallowed it.

Years later, when the woman developed unexplained diarrhea and weight loss, a CT scan exam revealed the pen. Doctors removed it to prevent bowel perforation.

And the kicker: Yes, the pen still worked. A write-up in the British Medical Journal includes a photo of the pen and a note written with the pen: “Hello.”

In BMJ, the doctors concluded, “Occasionally it may be worth believing the patient’s account however unlikely it may be.”

Occasionally!?

I find that attitude from a doctor to be outrageous! It’s the height of arrogance.

I understand how swallowing a pen is out of the ordinary, and I’m sure some patients seem unreliable in describing their health issues. But most patients’ accounts are authentic more often than just “occasionally.” And, let’s be honest, we would all know if we swallowed a pen.

I mean… “Hello!”

Sources:
“After 25 Years In Woman’s Stomach, A Pen Still Writes” Scott Hensley and Melissa Forsyth, NPR, 12/21/11, npr.org