So that's where it went. When a 76-year-old complained of digestive problems, doctors in Britain X-rayed her stomach—and found a pen. When they asked the patient about it, she thought back 25 years and recalled the incident: She'd been using a pen to investigate her tonsils in the mirror when she fell over and swallowed it. At the time, her doctor didn't believe her, the Daily Mail reports.
The pen wasn't the cause of her current digestive issues, which healed on their own. But doctors chose to remove it in case it damaged her stomach lining. When surgeons pulled out the pen, they discovered it still worked. "Occasionally it may be worth believing the patient’s account, however unlikely it may be," one of the doctors advised colleagues in a British medical journal. (More strange stuff stories.)