COLONTOWN has more than 120 “secret” groups on Facebook for colorectal cancer patients and survivors. We call these groups neighborhoods, and each one has a focus that connects all its members, from stage of disease to treatment type to common interests such as diet or women’s issues. Once you join COLONTOWN, you can join any of its neighborhoods that fit your needs and interests. Because all the neighborhoods are secret, no one outside the neighborhood can see anything about it, including who belongs. They are safe, private spaces for you to “find your people!”

This list of neighborhoods is current as of March, 2022. New neighborhoods are created whenever we have the interest among our neighbors in COLONTOWN!
If this sounds like a place you’d like to belong, please fill out the form at Join COLONTOWN and we’ll be in touch!

COLONTOWN DOWNTOWN

Everyone in COLONTOWN belongs to its central neighborhood

Patient Plaza

Neighborhoods for stages/phases of disease and ages of patients, open to patients only.

Stage or Phase of Cancer

  • 1st Avenue (stage i patients)
  • 2nd Avenue (stage ii patients)
  • 3rd Lane (stage iii patients)
  • Four Corners (stage iv patients)
  • NED’s Ballroom (currently or previously No Evidence of Disease [NED])
  • River Valley (exclusively for end stage patients)

Patient Age/Gender

  • Middlebury Manor (patients diagnosed 50+)
  • Poker Club (patients who identify as male)
  • Tough Chicks (patients who identify as female)
  • Youngstown (patients diagnosed under 40)

Treatment Township

Neighborhoods for side effect/symptom management and specific systemic treatments. Open to patients and carepartners

GI-Related Treatment and Management

  • Flora Garden (fecal transplantation)
  • LARS Junction (Lower Anterior Resection Syndrome)
  • Reversal Roundabout (ostomy reversal)
  • Stoma City (all ostomies)

Management of Other Side Effects

  • Cognitive Way (Chemo brain)
  • Corner Cupboard (remedies for biggest side effects)
  • The Late Show (patients with longterm treatment after-effects)
  • Live Wire (suggestions and help for neuropathy from chemo)
  • Palliative Pathways (palliative care)
  • Reconstruction Zone (reconstructive surgery in vaginal area)
  • Safe Haven (patients with both a mental health and a CRC diagnosis)

Specific Systemic Treatments

  • Hospice Harbor (understanding of and support for hospice care)
  • Immunoasis (Immunotherapy checkpoint inhibitors)
  • Lonnie Den (LONSURF chemo)
  • StivargaVille (STIVARGA chemo, including combos like REGONIVO)

Carepartner Cove

Neighborhoods for carepartners (families and friends) of patients with some noted for primary carepartners only. Open to carepartners only.

Caregiving

  • Carepartner Corner (primary carepartners of CRC patients)
  • Family Circle (secondary carepartners, friends, relatives)
  • Parents’ Porch (for parent carepartners)
  • Stage IV Carepartners (primary carepartners of Stage IV CRC patients)
  • Teen COLONTOWN (kids of CRC patients [13+])

Loss and Grief

  • Beyond the Threshold (life after loss)
  • Dad’s Grief Garage (father figures dealing with grief)
  • Parent Loss Connection (adult children who have lost a parent to CRC)

The Circus

Neighborhoods that address the far-reaching impacts from cancer as well as more ways to “find your people,” i.e., those with common interests, identities, and mindsets. Open to patients and carepartners.

Interests

  • Book Nook (reading group)
  • Crafting 4 Healing (craft-related hobbies)
  • Healthy Gut Cafe and Fitness Center (nutrition and fitness)
  • Merlin’s Majic & Laffs (just for laughs – jokes, memes, silly stories, pet brags)
  • Skeptics’ Overpass (for those with skeptical views concerning religion and politics)

Practical Matters

  • Billing Office (billing, insurance, Social Security, and disability topics)
  • COLONTOWN Cemetery (remembering CRC community members we’ve lost)
  • Planning Plaza (future planning including financial, end of life, legacy)

Identity Groups

  • Military Service Station (active military, veterans, and families)
  • Prideville (LGBTQ)
  • PTA (parents/guardians of minor children of a parent with CRC)
  • Singletons (singles only)

Crews – USA

Geographic crews based on home and/or treatment location. Open to patients and carepartners.

Midwest

  • Badgerburgh (WI)
  • Cornhusker Crew (NE)
  • Field of Dreams (IA)
  • Indy Crew (Indianapolis)
  • Mayo (Mayo Clinic/Rochester)
  • Middle of the Map (KC)
  • Motor City Crew (Detroit)
  • Northern Lights (Northern Minnesota)
  • Rock n Roll (Ohio)
  • Twin Cities (MN)
  • Windy City (Chicago)

North East/Mid-Atlantic

  • Beantown (Boston and region)
  • Big Apple (NY/Manhattan area)
  • Capital City (DMV – DC and surrounding areas in MD and VA)
  • Constitution Avenue (CT)
  • Jersey Strong (NJ)
  • PENN Pals (Pennsylvania)

South

  • Atlanta
  • Bayou/Gulf (LA and Gulf Coast)
  • Bluebonnets (TX)
  • Bluegrass Boulevard (KY)
  • Carolinas (NC, SC)
  • Salty Virginia (VA outside of Beltway)
  • Sunshine State (FL)
  • Thunder Alley (Northern OK)

West

  • Bay Area Crew (SF)
  • Glitter Gulch (Las Vegas)
  • Grand Canyon (AZ)
  • Hollywoodland (So Cal)
  • Mile High (Denver/CO)
  • SnowCountry (UT)
  • Trailblazers (Pacific NW/Portland)
  • Treasured State (MT)

Crews – International

Geographic crews based on home and/or treatment location as well as language based crews that are not tied to geography. Open to patients and caregivers

Language-based Crews

  • Colonville (French speakers everywhere)
  • Darmstadt Crew (German speakers everywhere)
  • Villa Colon (Spanish speakers everywhere)

Country-based Crews

  • Downton Alley (UK – British)
  • Straya (Australia – English)
  • True North Crew (Canada- English)

Locations and Types Station

Neighborhoods that focus on the specific biology of one’s cancer. Open to patients and caregivers

Primary Tumor Location

  • On the Right Side (cancer originated in cecum, ascending, or transverse colon – because sidedness matters)
  • Rectalburgh (rectal cancer)
  • Small Bowel Corral (small intestine cancer)

Subtypes

  • Jelly Belly Place (mucinous & signet ring cell cancer types)

Similar Types

  • Honor Thy Appendix (cancer originating in appendix – not for appendix mets of CRC)

Mets Stadium 

Metasteses and local treatments for metasteses. Open to patients and carepartners.

Liver Mets and Local Liver Met Treatments

  • HAI Pump People (HAI treatment for liver mets)
  • Liver Lovers Lane (options for liver mets treatment)
  • Mighty Y-90 (y-90 for liver mets)
  • Transplantation Station (live donor liver transplants for CRC)

Other Mets and Local Met Treatments

  • The Attic (brain mets)
  • Legosland (bone mets)
  • Lungston (lung mets)
  • In the Distance (distant lymph node meds)
  • Peri Place & HIPEC Heights (peritoneal mets including HIPEC treatment)

Spiritual Center

Although COLONTOWN itself is a secular place, we have spiritual and/or religion-based neighborhoods.

  • Kibbutz (for Jewish discussion and prayers)
  • Crescent & Star Centre (for Islamic-faith discussion and prayer)
  • Prayer Place (for religious prayers and support)

Tom’s Science & Trials School

Named after Tom Marsilje, COLONTOWN’s beloved clinical trials mentor, these neighborhoods offer education and discussion of the science of CRC and clinical trials. Open to patients and careparnters.

Science Classroom

  • CRC 101 (scientific fundamentals of colorectal disease)

Trials Classroom

  • Tom’s Car-T Trials (Car-T trials)
  • Tom’s MSI-H Clinic (MSI clinical trials and other specific treatments)
  • Tom’s MSS Clinical Trials  (MSS clinical trials)
  • Tom’s NIH Lounge (T-il and other NIH trials)

Mutations Classroom

  • Tom and Con’s BRAF+  Clinic (BRAF mutations)
  • Tom’s RAS Club (KRAS/NRAS/HRAS mutations)
  • Tom’s HER2 Clinic (HER2 mutations)
  • Tom’s Inherited Mutation Clinic (Chec2, BRCA and other inherited/germline mutations)

Uncle Joe’s River Guides

Neighborhoods specifically for invited consulting physicians as well as patients who are health care providers

  • COLONTOWN Consulting Physicians (by invitation only)
  • Provider Lounge (for patients who are medical providers)

COLONTOWN Junior

Unique needs of pediatric CRC patients (ages 21 and under) and their caregivers. Members do not have to belong to DOWNTOWN.

  • CT JR – Parents’ Pavilion (for carepartners of pediatric CRC patients)
  • CT JR – Prayground (place for prayers for carepartners of pediatric CRC patients)

Outside the Realm

Diagnoses that are related to but not the same as traditional CRC.  Members in these neighborhoods do not need to belong to DOWNTOWN.

  • Analwise (anal cancer including anal cancer clinical trials – patients only)
  • FAP Family (Familial Adenomatous Polyposis –  patients and family)
  • IBD Alleyway (Inflammatory Bowel Disease, including colitis and Crohn’s – patients only)
  • Lynchville (lynch syndrome, for cancer survivors and pre-vivors)