Following my last post on the Olympus Mju film camera, my brother reached out from Portugal with a suggestion. He told me I should publish a follow-up post with the photo of the toothbrush inside the patient’s stomach.

I hesitated for some time, but I have finally decided to share it.

My reluctance came from a place of respect. I’m not the author of this photo: it belonged to my father. He was a highly successful doctor here in Macau, yet he never bragged about his achievements. He was always low-profile.

Since he is no longer with us, I wasn’t sure about putting his work onto the internet, especially knowing how easily things can spiral out of control in the era of social media.

But then I realized I was overthinking. A quick Google search revealed several photos of similar cases. Apparently, swallowing your toothbrush is a common thing. Go figure.

This photo wasn’t a secret. It was published in 1998 in a medical book my father co-authored. Over his decades long career, my father co-authored a total of four medical books published in Macau and Portugal.

Growing up, our father was our role model. He introduced endoscopy to Macau and headed the Digestive Endoscopy Unit at our public hospital. He was a prominent doctor and we were proud of this.

Whenever anyone asked what we wanted to be, my brother and I never hesitated: we wanted to be doctors.

My brother kept his word and he’s a successful dentist now. For me though, adolescence pulled me toward visual arts. Ultimately, I ended up taking architecture.

But the pride I felt as a child has never left. This post is just a small way to honor my father’s memory and close the loop on the Olympus story with a piece of my own family history.

Cheers to greatness.