My Cousin Aleda

First, don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour, either before you go to bed on Saturday night (my preference), or as soon as you get up Sunday morning. It's "Fall Back" time!

   If my brain seems a lot more scattered than usual, please forgive me. I just learned that my first cousin has metastatic cancer. Our mothers were sisters. Both of our maternal grandparents died from cancer; and both of my cousin's parents died from cancer. Aleda is younger than me; she has a wonderful husband; she has children; and she has grandchildren. After she married Barry, she returned to school and worked doggedly for her law degree; she specializes in representing women and children, and has done a great deal of work without pay in Third World countries, fighting for womens' rights. Her husband, Barry Frishman, gives tours around Chincoteague and Assateague, teaching tourists about marine, marsh, and island ecology. The only thing they own is Barry's boat (Captain Barry's Back Bay Tours); they rent a mobile home and a friend has loaned them a vehicle to drive. Aleda and Barry traveled to Haiti after the last earthquake, and have been spending their time shuttling between the two islands. Barry is a volunteer worker who digs and builds fresh water wells for all those who need them - in Haiti, and in the Third World countries he visits with Aleda. Barry is also an American Red Cross volunteer, and Emergency Team worker. Before returning to the States this past spring, Aleda always felt tired and achey (on top of her severe asthma). After tons of testing, it was found she had all sorts of internal parasites; but she kept having weird reactions to the medications that were supposed to cure her... More and more tests. A PET scan finally turned up a mass in her lymph glands. She was scheduled for a biopsy early last month, but another mass was found that encircles a major nerve and two arteries - they are now going to do the biopsy on November 9, a week from today. Then she'll have meetings with the Docs the day after Thanksgiving... I am upset and greatly worried.

Aleda ("Missy") and Barry Frishman on Chincoteague