ALLENDALE TOWNSHIP — Like other college students, Jacob Bouwman assumed he was healthy. Then his world was rocked when the 20-year-old Zeeland man was diagnosed with testicular cancer a few days before Thanksgiving.

Bouwman’s problems are compounded because he has no health insurance and his parents are not able to help. His mother is disabled and his father, a builder, rarely gets work these days.

Bouwman said he has since applied for Medicaid but worries about mounting out-of-pocket expenses. Bills for thousands of dollars have already rolled in and he hasn’t been billed for surgery yet.

“It’s been mind boggling,” said Bouwman, a junior at Grand Valley State University. “I felt like it wasn’t real that I had cancer. I did track and bowling four years in high school. Why did this happen to me? I’m athletic and it’s just happening to me.”

Bouwman had the tumor removed the day before Thanksgiving. Luckily, he said, his cancer did not spread.

Still, he must undergo monthly blood tests and chest X-rays and CT scans every three months for the next 10 years to ensure the cancer does not invade his lymph nodes.

It’s all a bit overwhelming for him.

“I go to college and will have to pay on loans and it’s just not going to be easy with medical bills on top of it,” said Bouwman who is majoring in exercise science.

And that’s when the Zeeland resident discovered how many friends he has.

GVSU students and faculty are helping Bouwman tunnel through his financial woes.

“He’s dealing with so much, and has so much to process,” said Kirsten Bartels, faculty adviser for the rowing club Bouwman is an oarsman and rower for.

“What are his options? If he doesn’t have health insurance and can’t pay the bills, he goes bankrupt, gets a bad credit rating so his college career would be (damaged). He has handled this all with such grace.”

The rowing club first sprang into action and raised about $200. Then the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity Bouwman’s a member of started passing the hat as well.

It snowballed from there.

GVSU’s bookstore has agreed to take the used books students give and allow Bartels to resell them on amazon.com and other means and use the proceeds toward Bouwman’s medical expenses.

The goal is to raise $20,000. View the online donation page.

“This is a long hard battle ahead of him,” said Bartels. “We’ve naively set a target of $20,000. It’s not going to be enough, but it’s a start. I’d rather not worry about if this going to be enough. Let’s do something and make a difference now.”

Words of encouragement are posted on FaceBook.

E-mail the author of this story: localnews@grpress.com