Just a guess, but maybe set them as unread in Gmail. Generally the send/receive will only pull down new mails.

Open the problematic word document, highlight everything (or ctrl + A) create a new word document, paste (ctrl + V), save it, then try to convert this new document.

This same problem has happened...

Check your caps lock. I dont ever remember it looking like a pen, but then again I haven't used PS7 for a while. I just know that the cursor will change appearance by pressing the caps lock key.