Allergic?

So, I've always considered it a great thing that I'm allergic to essentially nothing.  My sister always had really horrible allergies every spring...she always looked and sounded so miserable for a few weeks and when she would rub her itchy eyes, the squishing sounds her eyes made never ceased to gross me out.  Eeew. 

Anywho, I always said I had no allergies, but truthfully I was extremely allergic to poison ivy.  I never really counted that because I thought that anyone who touched poison ivy would have a reaction (is that true?).  I will say, I was extra sensitive, if that's possible.  Or, maybe I just played in the woods a lot (which I did..there was a forest across the street from our house growing up).  I used to get poison ivy all the time and some cases were quite severe.  My parent's used to joke that I would have a reaction if I just smelled a plant nearby.  The worst was the time when I was 10 and I had a reaction all over my body...it was as if I had rolled in it naked and taken leaves and rubbed them on my face.  My eyes were so covered in the itchy bumps that they were completely swollen shut.  This was the only time my reaction was bad enough to freak my mom out and into taking me to the doctor (we were rarely taken to the dr growing up...it had to be really bad for us to go)!  You know, I don't think I've had poison ivy since then...I wonder if it's possible to build up an immunity to it?

Today, I had a new allergy realization.  I think I might be allergic to mollusks.  I ate calamari two times around 2000/2001 and both times got sick to my stomach and threw up later.  I've pretty much stayed away from calamari since then, although I recently had it in a seafood pasta dish, but there was so much other stuff in there that I don't think I really ate much calamari.  A couple of weeks ago, Amanda took Lucy and I to Mermaid Inn for dinner.  Amanda is the voice of Mermaid...she's their social media guru and does all the tweeting and facebooking for them.  This was a restaurant I'd been wanting to try since long before Amanda got the job there, but it was fun to make my first trip with the Mermaid herself and Lucy....plus we got a discount - sweet!  Anyway, we had oysters.  Amanda loves oysters and I told her I wanted her to educate me and order for me.  I'll admit, I didn't love the oysters.  I did, however, love my salmon and veggies...it was SO good.  Later, within a few hours of being home, I got sick to my stomach and threw up.

Today, it dawned on me that maybe there is some sort of relationship between calamari and oysters.  After a little google research, I learned that they are both mollusks...maybe something I should have already known, but I didn't.  The only thing is that scallops are also listed as mollusks and I think I've had those several times without getting sick.  In fact, I have a whole bag of Trader Joe's scallops in my freezer now and am hoping I don't have to throw them out!  I think I may be on to something though...do you??  The other issue is that mollusks are a shellfish as are crustaceans (shrimp, lobster, crab) and from my little bit of research, I learned that if you're allergic to any shellfish, you should stay away from ALL shellfish.  I don't mind staying away from calamari (done it for 9 years now and haven't minded) and I learned I don't like oysters anyway.  But, if someone tells me I can't have lobster the next time I go to Maine, we may have a serious problem here.  Oh, and shrimp cocktail is one of my favorite treats at fancy parties or receptions.  I've never had a problem with crustaceans, can I push my luck and continue to eat those and just ban the mollusks?  Do I have to go to a Dr for this (cause I'm kind of like my mom when it comes to doctors...only when absolutely necessary!)?  Goldilocks' mom, maybe you should weigh in here!