Hello!
I've been doing relatively well (considering everything that is going on in the world) with my HA. I've even had some breakthroughs regarding the origin of some chronic pain I deal with (shocker, it's anxiety related!). Over the weekend, I purchased and consumed a decent amount of a loaf of bread (rustic kind with thick, chewy crusts). I was slicing the bread last night and noticed two stainless steel wool fibers embedded in the bottom of the bread. I pulled them out and put them in a plastic bag along with the remainder of the bread into the freezer. This morning I called the food safety hotline to report a complaint of a foreign object in the food. All good and normal behavior.
I'm struggling with the thought that I consumed some of the fibers without realizing it. Normally I tear bread like this up into pieces, especially bottom crust pieces, to make it easier to chew. I'd like to think that I would notice a 1 inch piece of steel wool as I was chewing it. I did some searching online for people who had similar incidents and most reported feeling it either in their mouths as they were chewing or swallowing. I experienced neither.
I reached out to my brother who is a gastroenterologist who basically reinforced my thought process. He also said that if it were to have been accidentally swallowed I could expect to see it within 1-3 days in the toilet. Currently, I'm struggling with my HA pulling the "what if" move. What if it I did swallow it and it got lodged in my digestive track. Wouldn't I know somehow? What if it's trapped in there? Would that cause an infection?
Anyway, I realize that this is an attempt to see reassurance from the forum but I've gotten to the point with my OCD and HA that I only use the forum to help me get over humps like this situation. I only come here when I don't want to seek reassurance from family members or the medical community (my doctors know I have HA but I made a pact with myself that I wouldn't abuse my relationship with them). So if anyone who has a similar experience with finding something like this in their food I would love to hear from you. Thank you in advance!