Pen still works after 25 years in woman's stomach

This must be the oddest written word item of the year

And I'd love to know what brand of pen ...

A 76-year-old British woman recently had a pen removed from her stomach, and doctors were amazed to discover that after 25 years of gestation the pen still works.

The British Medical Journal Case Reports chronicled the medical case of the woman (not identified), who was sent to a GI specialist after various symptoms, including weight loss.

When doctors scanned the woman's intestinal tract, they discovered, "A linear foreign body in the stomach."

After the discovery, the woman said she remembered accidentally swallowing a black felt-tip pen, more than a quarter century ago.

While the pen was corroded after two decades of exposure to stomach acid, it still contained usable ink and could be used for writing.

The woman, it seems, was probing a spot on her tonsils with a pen, slipped, fell, and swallowed it.  When she told her GP husband, he thought she was making it up.

As the writer of the report, Dr. Oliver Richard Waters, observed, "Occasionally it may be worth believing the patient's account however unlikely it may be."

Personally, I would NOT suggest swallowing a pen as an alternative to dieting.