Hi Jim,
in Excel you can make pretty much any key do what you want with: Application.OnKey "{insert key here(i.e ESC)}","insert module name here", but as I am not a big user of Word I am not sure if the same applies.It is important to switch the key back to its' normal usage after closing the application though with :Application.OnKey "{insert key here}","".The end "" returns normal usage.
let me know if this works in Word (out of interest)