Shave for the Brave | Video

Jennifer Schwan | 9/6/2010

It`s hard to imagine that this bright eyed smiling 19 month old has been through more in his life time than many of us will ever experience.

"Aspen didn`t really have symptoms," said Randi Heisler, Aspen`s mom.

Heisler always thought something just wasn`t right with her son, and it wasn`t until his one year check up that her mother’s intuition proved to be right.

"We took him to a pediatrician in Minot and she said it`s either cancer or something else," said Heisler.

And after a roller coaster of events from Minot to Fargo to Minneapolis, Aspen was diagnosed with neuro blastoma cancer.

"At first it was overwhelming. They said he`d be done with chemo by April, but nothing goes as planned, and he`s not been responsive to chemo so he has another surgery scheduled in a couple of weeks,” explained Heisler.

Chemo has caused Aspen to lose his hair over the past year, and soon Randi will be experiencing the same thing.

"I belong to a group called 46 Mommas. It`s all moms who have had a child with cancer. We formed the group from St. Baldricks and each mom was going to shave their head in their own state," said Heisler.

That was until officials with the Stand Up to Cancer event invited all of the moms out to Hollywood to shave their heads on national television.

"I`m not going to lie, I am kind of nervous," said Heisler.

But she says she`ll do it if that means raising awareness about childhood cancer, not just for Aspen, but for all children who are affected by the disease. To find out more about 46 Mommas or Aspen`s journey you can visit www.46mommas.com or www.caringbridge.org/visit/aspenjackheisler.

The “Shave for the Brave” segment is set to air about seven minutes after the show starts. The Stand Up to Cancer event will take place Friday at 7 p.m. on NBC.

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