COLONTOWN on Facebook

Find support from fellow colorectal cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers in COLONTOWN, an online community of more than 120 “secret” groups on Facebook. Join the support groups that are right for your colon or rectal cancer diagnosis — and connect with others who understand what you are going through.

Here, you’ll find groups based on:

Cancer Stage and Location: Whether you are diagnosed at Stage I, Stage II, Stage III, or Stage IV, designated groups make connecting on specific topics easier. Plus, groups based on the location of your rectal or colon tumor and the location of any metastases make it simple to find information on treatment options.
Age, Gender, and Life Stages: COLONTOWN has groups for young-onset colorectal cancer patients, women, men, LGBTQ, parents, military, and more. Connect with others who are living through similar situations.
Side Effects: Learn to manage your treatment side effects from chemo, radiation, and surgery, such as in the “Live Wire” group that discusses how to prevent and treat neuropathy from oxaliplatin treatments like FOLFOX and CAPOX.
Local Support: Join one of the more than 30 U.S. regional groups and 6 international groups to talk with others in your area. Discuss treatment options in your area — or meet up with a new friend for in-person support.
Clinical Trials: Get help learning about and navigating the clinical trial process in our nine different clinical trial groups. Trained patient navigators post information about the latest trials and answer your questions, while members share their experiences and results on trials.
Caregivers: Certain COLONTOWN groups are designated as “caregiver-only” and “patient-only,” providing everyone with the space to openly share and find the support they need. Whether you are a primary caregiver, a parent, or a secondary caregiver, you’ll find a group for you.
And so much more!

List of Facebook Groups

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 (Patients with current or previous NED — no evidence of disease — status)
River Valley (End-stage patients, by invitation only)

Age/Gender

Middlebury Manor (Patients 50 years or older)
Poker Club (Patients who identify as men)
Tough Chicks (Patients who identify as women)
Youngstown (Early-onset patients)

Treatment Township

Neighborhoods for side effect and treatment management, as well as specific systemic treatments. Open to patients and carepartners.

GI treatment and management

Flora Garden (Fecal transplants)
LARS Junction (Lower anterior resection surgery)
Reversal Roundabout (Ostomy reversal)
Stoma City (All things ostomy)

All side effects and pain management

Cognitive Way (Chemo brain)
The Corner Cupboard (Remedies for common side effects)
The Late Show (Long-term treatment after-care)
Live Wire (neuropathy from chemo)
Palliative Pathways (Palliative care)
Reconstruction Zone (Reconstructive surgery in the vaginal area, for women only)
Safe Haven (Patients with both a mental health and CRC diagnosis)

Specific systemic treatments

Hospice Harbor (Understanding and support for hospice care)
Immunoasis (Immunotherapy and checkpoint inhibitors)
Longhauler Hollow (Lonsurf chemotherapy and Stivarga chemotherapy, including combos like REGONIVO)

Carepartner Cove

Neighborhoods for carepartners only

Caregiving

Carepartner Corner (Primary carepartners of CRC patients, all stages)
Family Circle (Secondary carepartners, friends and relatives)
NED’s Dance Partners (Primary carepartners of NED patients)
Parents’ Porch (Parents of adult CRC patients)
Stage IV Carepartners (Primary carepartners of stage IV 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)
Tribute Trail (Remembering those we have lost)

Uniqueness Union

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

Interest groups

Book Nook (Reading group)
Crafting 4 Healing (Craft-related hobbies)
Healthy Habits Highway (Nutrition and fitness)
Merlin’s Majic & Laffs (Just for laughs — jokes, memes, silly stories, pet brags)
Skeptics’ Overpass (For those with skeptical views regarding religion and politics. Exempt from COLONTOWN guidelines regarding these topics)

Practical matter groups

Billing Office (Billing, insurance, social security and disability)
Tribute Trail (Remembering CRC community members we’ve lost)
Planning Plaza (Future planning, including finances, end of life, and legacy)

Kinship groups

Fire Station (Firefighters)
Military Service Station (Active military, veterans and families)
Recovery Rest Stop – 12 Step (For patients only who are dealing with addiction)
Prideville (LGBTQ+)
PTA — Parent Talking Association (Parents or guardians of children under 18, with a parent with CRC)
Singletons (Single CRC patients)

Crews — USA

Geographic neighborhoods based on home and/or treatment locations. Open to patients and carepartners.

Midwest groups

Badgerburgh (Wisconsin)
Cornhusker Crew (Nebraska)
Field of Dreams (Iowa)
Indy Crew (Indianapolis)
Mayo (Mayo Clinic/Rochester)
Middle of the Map (Kansas City area)
Motor City Crew (Detroit area)
Northern Lights (Northern Minnesota)
Rock N Roll (Ohio)
Tan See (Tennessee)
Twin Cities (Minnesota, Dakotas and Western Wisconsin)
Windy City (Chicago)

Northeast/Midatlantic groups

Capitol City (DC and the surrounding areas in Maryland and Virginia
Constitution Avenue (Connecticut)
Beantown (Boston area)
Big Apple (New York City area)
Jersey Strong (New Jersey)
Penn Pals (Pennsylvania)

Southern groups

Atlanta (Atlanta area)
Bayou/Gulf (Louisiana and the Gulf Coast)
Bluebonnets (Texas)
Bluegrass Boulevard (Kentucky)
Palmetto (South Carolina)
Salty Virginia (Virginia, outside of the beltway)
Sunshine State (Florida)
Tar Heels (North Carolina)
Thunder Alley (Northern Oaklahoma)

Western groups

Bay Area (San Francisco area)
Glitter Gulch (Las Vegas)
Grand Canyon (Arizona)
Hollywoodland (Southern California)
Mile High (Colorado)
Snow Country (Utah)
Trailblazers (Pacific North West & Portland area)
Treasured State (Montana)

Crews — International

Geographic neighborhoods based on home and/or treatment locations as well as language-based groups not tied to geography. Open to patients and carepartners.

Language-based groups

Across the Pond (For European members to connect about treatment)
Colonville (French speakers everywhere)
Darmstatdt Crew (German speakers everywhere)
Villa Colon (Spanish speakers everywhere)

Country-based groups

Downtown Alley (UK, English)
Lekka Saffas (South Africa, English)
Straya (Australia, English)
True North Crew (Canada, English)

Locations and Types Station

Neighborhoods that focus on the specific biology of your cancer. Open to patients and carepartners.

Primary tumor location

On the Right Side (Cancer in the cecum, ascending or transverse colon)
Rectalburgh (Rectal cancer)
Small Bowel Corral (Small intestine cancer)

Subtypes

Jelly Belly Place (Mucinous & signet ring cell cancer)

Similar types

Honor Thy Appendix (Cancer of appendix, not CRC metastases)

Mets Stadium

Metastases and local treatments for metastases. Open to patients and carepartners.

Liver mets and local liver mets treatment groups

Liver Lovers Lane (Liver mets)
HAI Pump People (HAI treatment for liver mets)
Mighty Y-90 (Y-90 treatment for liver mets)
Transplantation Station (Live donor liver transplants)

Other mets and local mets treatment groups

The Attic (Brain mets)
Legosland (Bone mets)
Lungston (Lung mets)
In The Distance (Distant lymph node mets, not for local lymph node mets)
Peri Place & HIPEC Heights (Peritoneal mets, including HIPEC treatment)

Spiritual Center

Spiritual and/or religion based groups. These groups are exempt from COLONTOWN religion guidelines. Open to patients and carepartners.

Spiritual groups

Kibbutz (For Jewish faith discussion and prayers)
Crescent & Star Center (For Islamic faith discussion and prayers)
Prayer Place (For religious prayers and support)
Zen Den (For exploration of meditation, yoga, qi gong, reiki and other practices based in spirituality/religion)

Tom's Science & Trials School

Education and discussion of CRC science and clinical trials. Open to patients and carepartners.

Science classrooms

CRC 101 (Scientific fundamentals of colorectal cancer)

Trials classrooms

Tom’s MSI-H Clinic (MSI-H clinical trials and other treatments)
Tom’s MSS Clinical Trials (MSS clinical trials)
Tom’s NIH Lounge (T-IL and other NIH trials)
Tom’s CAR-T Trials (CAR-T trials)

Mutations classrooms

Tom & Con’s BRAF+ Clinic (BRAF mutations)
Tom’s RAS Clinic (KRAS/NRAS/HRAS mutations)
Tom’s HER2 Clinic (HER2 mutations)
Tom’s Inherited Mutation Clinic (CHEK2, BRCA and other inherited mutations)

Uncle Joe's River Guides

Neighborhoods specifically for invited consulting physicians as well as patients who are healthcare providers. For providers only.

COLONTOWN Consulting Physicians (For physicians invited to participate in COLONTOWN, by invitation only)
Provider Lounge (For patients who are medical providers — physicians, PAs, nurses, etc)

COLONTOWN Junior

Neighborhoods for families of pediatric CRC patients. Addresses the unique needs of CRC patients ages 21 and under and their carepartners. There’s no requirement to be a member of COLONTOWN Downtown.

Colontown Junior groups

Parents’ Pavillion (For carepartners of pediatric CRC patients)
Prayground (Prayers for carepartners of pediatric CRC patients, exempt from religious guidelines)

Outside the Realm

Diagnoses that are related to, but not the same as, traditional CRC. There’s no requirement to be a member of COLONTOWN Downtown.

Related groups

Analwise (Anal cancer, including clinical trials. For patients only)
FAP Family (Familial adenomatous polyposis, for patients and family)
IBD Alleyway (Inflammatory bowel disease, including colitis and Crohn’s disease)
Lynchville (Lynch syndrome, for cancer survivors and pre-vivors)