phyllis barnes: go away, dear, i'm busy. daniel burns: but i love you, phyllis. narrator: her sister peggy was already here, and it was here that she met her husband, daniel barnes, started a family, and began a career in social work, helping displaced steel workers. it was a government agency that tried to help place people who had lost their jobs in this area. and she really liked that. narrator: a big part of that job involved public speaking. but by the time mark weinberger was popping champagne corks down in the caribbean that new year's eve, that part of phyllis' career was over. surgeons had taken drastic action to fight the advanced cancer in her throat. she ended up losing her voice box. and it was a very disfiguring surgery. but i think she felt like after all she'd gone through, that she was going to be ok. and so phyllis barnes soldiered on. there was the usual litany of chemo and radiation treatments. but phyllis also underwent additional throat surgeries and volunteered for experimental treatments. she suffered in silence. i think she kept a lot of w