Passing a URL variable to a frame

I hope this is an easy question that I just can't find the answer to.

I have a frameset (subpage.cfm) that consists of 3 frames. Topframe(top.cfm), Leftframe(left.cfm) and Mainframe(main.cfm)

When I pull up the page I am going to www.myurl.com/subpage.cfm?ssid=1

When I try to reference URL.ssid in top.cfm I get an error that the variable is undefined in url. I assume what is happening is that the url variable is being passed to the frameset, but it's not filtering down to the pages that make up the frameset. Is there a way to access that url variable on each of the pages that make up the frameset?

Thanks for any help.