While I disagree with Dr. Eugene Woltering about the humor of his “crawl for the cure” remark, I have to admit the thing has a nice ring to it. Even as I was writing yesterday there was something nibbling on the back of my brain. It didn’t fit in with what I was trying to say yesterday–that too many patients need us to race, not crawl, toward a cure for NET–so I left the idea where it was.

But after I finished writing the thought of that as a powerful slogan–and a powerful idea–would not go away. How best leverage the idea into something that will raise consciousness–and funding–for NET was something that pestered me all night.

My first thought was to literally crawl to Washington, DC to publicize the impact of the pathetic funding levels that are the direct result of the National Cancer Institute’s 1968 decision to eliminate NET funding because of its rarity. But I am not sure my knees–or anyones–let alone my wrists, would make such a journey possible. It is some 600 miles from here to Washington. The journey would be unbearable in hot weather, impossible in cold weather, and I am not sure there are enough temperate days in either the spring or fall to carry out such a mission. Still, as I said about the Marathon Walk at one point, if Jane could face what she faced, endure what she endured, surely I could find a way…

My second thought was to crawl up Rte 138 to Boston. The distance is less and it might make clear whether making a trip to Washington was in any way possible. But what would the purpose be? Governor Deval Patrick has just declared November NET Awareness Month in the Commonwealth–and while there is no money attached to that decree it might make fundraising here in the Commonwealth a bit easier.

I thought about crawling a round a mall as a fundraiser–and that may be a thought yet for a year from now. But malls are semi-private spaces and, as I learned in my abortive attempt to do a walk for this November 10 (Worldwide NET Awareness Day) in some area malls, there are insurance regulations and a dozen other time-consuming hurdles to get over before that can be made a reality. Still, maybe that is the hook for the mall campaign that I have put, for now, on the back burner because of the time commitments that other pieces of this require this fall.

I thought about taking a trip to Washington, DC on November 10 and crawling around the halls of the capitol to visit senators and congressmen to raise their awareness of the disease and argue for funding. But that is the day before Veteran’s Day–and I bet they all will be out of their offices and home in their districts that weekend after a hard week of weeping and wailing about the federal budget deficit and the report of the Super Committee. If you want to draw attention to something like this it is better to do it on a slow news day–and preferably when there will be someone other than staffers to embarrass.

So I think maybe that particular crawl will have to wait until after the first of the year.

Which route–or routes–should we take? I am not sure. The last two seem the most practical: they dramatize the plight of NET patients in a highly visible way and have the advantage of being novel as well–something the mass media might gobble up and adopt.

But I am open to other ideas. You can post them on walkingwithjane.org/community or on Facebook.com/walkingwithjane. I promise to read them all and think about them.

What I do know is “Crawl for a Cure” is too good a phrase to waste.