Conway Wood (60), of St Kilda, spent a painful and frightening week with the 3.2cm by 3.4cm sheep-bone fragment lodged in his oesophagus before finally having urgent surgery to remove it on Friday.
He was discharged on Sunday morning.
He yesterday said that since the operation he had not "smiled so much" in years, due to the great relief he felt.
Dunedin Hospital emergency medicine and surgery general manager Dr Colleen Coop told the Otago Daily Times yesterday an investigation would be launched into Mr Wood's case.
Mr Wood said before the surgery he had been unable to eat solid food, had difficulty talking and had been able to sleep only on one side.
He will be on soft food for a couple of weeks while his oesophagus heals.
Seven days before the surgery, Mr Wood swallowed the piece of bone while eating home-made stew made with home-kill meat.
At the time, he was not sure what it was, but knew something was stuck.
St John was "brilliant", getting him to hospital promptly, and contacting his son, who headed to the ward to be with him.
He spent several hours in the emergency department, where doctors told him they did not know what was wrong, but that he may have eaten something that scratched his throat.
Mr Wood said that despite his urging to find what was wrong, he was not examined properly, with one doctor having a quick look down his throat "from five feet [away]".
No X-ray or other exploration was ordered.
A doctor gave him Coca-Cola to dissolve any obstruction, and a ham sandwich that he could not eat.
Before leaving, Mr Wood said he got an assurance notes from his case would be forwarded to his GP, so he could obtain a further examination, but the GP was never formally notified.
Mr Wood sought help from the GP on the Monday morning, following the trip to hospital on the Friday night.
After several more days, the GP referred him to a Dunedin Hospital ear, nose and throat specialist, who inserted a camera into his throat to locate the obstruction, and then ordered urgent surgery.
Mr Wood was impressed by the doctors and nurses during his second encounter at Dunedin Hospital, who could not do enough to help him.
Resting after the operation, he said he was inundated with nurses and others coming in for a peek at the bone, amazed at its size.
Mr Wood was considering complaining to the health and disability commissioner, after he had recovered.
His son, Richard Wood (29), said the attitude at ED had seemed blase, and that because his dad had no visible injury, doctors did not seem to take it very seriously.
The mood at the hospital was "rush, rush, rush", even though the ward did not seem especially busy, he said.
