The Woman Who Swallowed a Toothbrush: And Other Weird Medical Case Histories

by Rob Myers

Drawing from real medical journal cases, a doctor shares true stories about strange symptoms and perplexing patients Those in the medical profession know that sometimes the cases that come into emergency rooms or doctor’s offices can be highly unusual ― and depending on how things go, the results can be either tragic or comic. This collection of stories reveals some of the oddest and most memorable case histories, from the woman who claims she was brushing her teeth when she swallowed her toothbrush ― but in fact was a bulimic using it to induce vomiting ― to the man whose routine elective back surgery revealed he’d been carrying a bullet around in his body for years. From the funny to the frightening, these documented memorable medical mysteries make for fascinating reading.

Genres: Nonfiction, Medical, Science, Medicine, Health, Anthologies, Psychology

300 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

Reviews

[Jackie · Rating 1 out of 5]

These would be entertaining medical mysteries (think an episode of House compressed into a few pages) if the author didn't go out of his way to show no compassion to the patients. The patients are portrayed as punchlines, to be laughed at for being stupid--especially the people who have done harmful things because they're mentally ill. He even portrays doctors as laughing at their patients, or being exasperated by them; along with the pithy "ironic" punchlines he adds to many of the chapters, I'm extremely skeptical he knows this from reading medical journal articles. By far the worst example is the blatant transphobia: not only does the author mix up the terms transsexual and transgender, he repeatedly calls a transsexual woman a man and mocks her for being so body dysphoric she attempted to cut off her own genitals. Avoid this book--look for medical mysteries that avoid bigotry and stick to the facts.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was okay. the thing that bothered me the most was the rather flippant and disrespectful manner in which many of the cases were written. it stood out a lot.

and some of the stuff wasn't even that odd. maybe it was 10 years ago, or would be to someone who hasn't watched a lot of ER or doesn't work with medical books. but priapism? not really an oddity.

(some of the cases were interesting though, and worth re-relating to a friend)

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm about 1/3 done and so far the most disturbing story has been that a hospital was infested with mice and when the mice died, the hospital then became infested with flies. Said flies ended up laying eggs in an ICU patient's nose and turned into maggots. ;LDKGNIGHS !!!

I wish the author had included the year in which these cases happened. I work at a large hospital in the midwest and we have many, MANY government and private organizations sneakily and not-so-sneakily inspect us often. We get comments about dust under machines that literally never move... I can only imagine what they would have said about dead mouse carcasses lying around long enough to get infested with flies...


Also - it is pretty poorly written - and some of the little quips the write tosses in are pretty unnecessary. It kind of reminds me of the show 1000 Ways to Die when they just keep relating stuff back to sex... could be a little annoying.

[Shelby Hufnal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of cases reads like a medical student’s bedtime stories. Definitely one to come back to and shake your head at. As many reviewers have commented- the author has an offensive tone when retelling some stories. As long as you remember it’s a retelling and not the author’s actual patients, I think there is still something worth coming back to in this quick read.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light-hearted, easy case by case read that will surprise you time and time again. Myers approach to conveying medical cases has a comedic element without being disrespectful. Each case is only a couple of pages long so great for when you need a quick and entertaining read.

[Barbara ★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected some really wild and crazy emergency room encounters but only strange anomalies prevailed. Though there are a few totally bizarre incidents such as...

&nbsp &nbsp the boy whose intestines were sucked out his rectum by the suction hole in the bottom of a swimming pool; or the man who ruptured his rectum after having sex with his prize boar; or the guy who committed suicide by leaning his body out the car window and being cut in half by the speed limit sign (my personal favorite...so creative!)

It must be interesting to work in the emergency room though I'm sure events of these nature aren't every day occurrences. And I do think the creators of Grey's Anatomy have read this book as it definitely sounds like something they've come up with in the past.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't EVER read this after reading Mary Roach, 13 pages in and I already want to put it down. The author treats the reader like an idiot (I know what a sternum is, tyvm) and, I agree, the author is flippant and rude towards the patients and doctors. It lacks the subtle funny and some details i would enjoy a a medical buff. Also, once you've read "Gulp", this material is hardly shocking. A nice fast read but for gods sake don't buy the thing.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of case studies about bizarre medical events, including the title story about a woman who was using a toothbrush to induce vomiting and swallowed it in the process. There are a lot of weird cases in the book, some resulting in deaths but most of which people lived through. Each case is only a few pages long. The writing is very simple and fact based. No poetry in it as you might find in a medical book by someone like Oliver Sacks, but interesting nevertheless.

[Sandra Strange · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually like medical case stories, especially these odd ones, but not this one for two reasons: too many of the cases involve sex and the author's snide comments and what seems to be added details that make the accounts seem not quite totally true (particularly the conveniently nasty or funny ends of the patients). The accounts are obviously based on true cases, but the style and snideness make them seem more fictional.

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

interesting medical stories, mostly from journals. especially like woman who swallowed condoms fully of cocaine. cheeeeeesy dialogue and scene setting-unnecessary filler and underestimates intelligence of audience, written at about 5th grade level.

[Sue Blanchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has some odd but surprisingly entertaining stories. For example, it recounts a story about a young adult who gave himself electrical shock treatments from a charged wire fence to overcome his mood disorder.

[Zoe Kauffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a good book. A little bit disturbing because they are real cases in medicine and some are kind of scary to think about because it could happen to you. I would reccomend this book to people who like medicine or just arw curious

[Katie Casey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Entertaining but also a product, perhaps, of its times

There is at least one account of misgendering a transgender individual, and a few other rather misogynist and bigoted moments. Entertaining, but not really enough so to put that aside.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some stories were interesting, but the writer's tone really got under my skin.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Veering towards 2 stars. The book is decidedly outdated in attitudes (it was written in 2003, when trans people and crossdressers were still novel). I believe Myers was going for a brisk and clinical tone in many of his stories (many were about 4 pages), but some of the stories are so abrupt that they feel insensitive and exploitative instead. This might also be a function of the time the book was written.

There are a few longer stories towards the end which are well executed, although I got a bit of whiplash from the change in completeness and detail from story to story. The medical mysteries were indeed interesting though.

[Ekky Pramana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is such a weird book. I don’t know why I picked it up, but the title looks interesting I had to read it. The book filled with crazy stories of rare medical cases that happened on daily basis on an ER. I cringed a lot reading the nasty stuffs that was told on the book. But I enjoyed it. It feels like watching those satisfying videos of people bursting pimples and picking earwaxes.

Also the book filled with medical terms that I don’t understand but the author did a great job at explaining difficult things.

One thing I don’t like about it: the book felt like it is an old book judging by the sometimes inappropriate humor it presented. I don’t hate it, but it felt uncomfortable at times.

[Christine Kayser · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of short stories was a super fast read. It was like a bunch of episodes of ER condensed into a book, but based on true medical cases. It was fascinating, but could be super gross at times. The only thing that really bugged me is that he gives all the patients fictional names and they're sometimes offensively stereotypical - a Russian patient named Svetlana, a farmer named Jed, that kind of thing. Every once in a while there was also a CSI Miami-level lame punchline that fell flat. Still worth it for whatever bargain bin I pulled it out of.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love medical mysteries and these were fun--nice and short and basically great bathroom reading. I had to go back and look at when it was published because it felt so dated and out-of-touch: the author has some serious misogynistic tendencies. And a trans woman is a woman, Mr. Myers, not a man. But it was written back in, if I remember correctly, 2003, and maybe that explains at least some of the painfully outdated attitudes. Anyway, fun reading if you can overlook the insulting views of women etc

[Tannya D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird

Boardering on the grotesque, fairly amusing, and absolutely strange, this book had it all. Some of the stories had my skin crawling, while others were kind of boring. If he hadn’t said they were true stories, I would have speculated that the author had a brilliant imagination! I have a morbid fascination for all things medical and related to death, so this book just got added to my list of enlightening reads.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing true stories of bizarre ER visits.Sometimes it is the smallest thing that triggers a weird reaction,and then there are the extreme cases that really make you wonder why.
An enjoyable book to read and contemplate how normal some of us really are.

[Jen Lunning · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was wild. I think the author lacked compassion on some cases and it seems like more of a joking matter. Either way if you loved watching untold stories of the ER as a kid like me then this book is strongly recommended!

[Farron Wolfe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting stories, but the writer speaks uses such derogatory/insulting language to describe patients and the staff who cared for them. almost every story ends up with a patient who had some kind of embarrassing/traumatic medical emergency being used as a punchline.

[Elizabeth Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

51 Very short, often amusing, sometimes disturbing medical stories. Worth reading if you like weird medical cases, and aren't too squeamish.

[Abby Reyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible, and sometimes entertaining, stories of our bodies' abuses and potential.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast, entertaining, interesting read. Definitely not for the faint of heart or anyone who likes to read while eating dinner.

[teddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ★’s.

Some pretty interesting cases in here tbh.

[teleri · Rating 3 out of 5]

[ 3.5 stars ]

[Kristen Fitch-Dobnikar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Very easy and quick read

[lynn stilley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick Weird Read

Short stories about weird medical happenings. This book is not for the easily nauseated. Conclusion: People are weirder than I thought!

[Royce Atchley]

Easy and light reading. It's an anthology of stories of people that swallowed weird stuff.