Penicillin Allergy

Summary

Just before returning to work after the New Year holiday, I managed to squeeze in a tonsillectomy. Post-op, a nurse came to set up my IV drip. I immediately spotted “Penicillin” on the bottle. My throat was too sore to speak easily, so I could only point to the “Penicillin Allergy” line on the patient information card by my bed for the nurse to see.

“Excuse me, I’m allergic to penicillin. The doctor prescribed a different antibiotic, a cephalosporin. Did you perhaps get the wrong medication?”