As many people I have known that had cancer, just as many ways of dealing with it have been seen. Panic, fear, scared stiff and then there are the emotions that those who have the cancer experience.
Some are accepting on the outside and some want to curl up in a ball and just have it go away.
A certain amount of fright tends to settle over all that I have seen. For some it is but a moment that leaves with a prayer and trust of God. Some don't handle it well at all and then those who fall in the middle of the two.
I have seen support people run and I have seen support people go extra time codie as well. I have seen those with the cancer stay in denial and others do major life changes in all areas.
I find it comes down to... we offer support as able and people will accept it as they wish. Same with anything else... you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. When a person becomes accepting is when a person will seek "their" answers.