The work on Walking with Jane and NETs the last 19 months has given me an entirely new appreciation for the work of the people who founded the American Cancer Society, the Jimmy Fund and other, similar, organizations. Walking a mile in another’s moccasins’ has become a cliche, but that has not changed the truth of the statement.

I have walked much further than a mile in these shoes–and I expect there are many more miles ahead of me before I have all this troublesomeness figured out. This much I can tell you: those folks were giants. They figured out most of what had to be done with little or no coaching from the sidelines. They were in largely uncharted territory.

Even with the help of the people at Dana-Farber, the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation, and our local American Cancer Society Relay for Life group, putting together what we have done so far has not been easy. I have a difficult time imagining what it must have been like to try to do something similar when no one had tried it before–knowing that lives depended on whether you succeeded or not.

But I do know now the thrill of opening the Post Office Box and finding that first real check in it. And I know how even a small amount can sweep away weeks of frustration. Unfortunately, I also know what it feels like to open that box and see nothing but empty space. A donation means I have managed to reach someone–as does an email announcing that someone has made a donation to ACS or the Jimmy Fund to support our team or an above average day on this website. A day when that box is empty, the email holds no news, and we score less than a handful of views on walkingwithjane.org feels like we have reached no one and done no good that day.

This is not true, of course. Every day we craft another piece of the puzzle. Today I created a new piece of letterhead, drafted a standard thank you note for donations, finished the t-shirt sponsorship letter, spent the evening at our Relay planning committee break-up meeting talking about this year and next year, created a Facebook teaser and drafted and edited this piece. Each one of those things lays the groundwork for the next series of projects I hope will create the foundation that will make Walking with Jane a real force in the fight against NET.

We are not there yet–and I know I need to be patient. But I have met too many NET patients. I know too well what their future looks like if things remain as they are.

So I will do the Marathon Walk and the Relay. I will write the letters and articles and do the interviews and give the speeches.

My frustration may boil over now and again, but I have promises to keep. Someday I may even get used to these moccasins.