dipstick broke

Just gone to check oil in l series diesel,pull dipstick out, a bit tight, looked like a bit of metal come of end still stuck to dip, tried to put dipstick back in, getting stuck on bend, eventually got it in checked oil, hard to pull out again, very difficult to get back in, what to do.

am i the only one it happened to,

so is your dipstick broken or jsut hard to get in and out?

well when i pulled it out it looked like a very small ball bearing and a bit of metal or plastic on the end of it loose, wiped it off tried to put it back in, would not go past bend, wiggled for 10 mins got it in, checked oil again bit more of something on end again, again struggled to get it past bend in tube, got it in, and left it alone, run engine for 20 odd miles perfect, now wondering what is stuck in tube, is it a piece of plastic or metal off dipstick, never looked at dipstick closely before but now i see 3 small holes at bottom,