Sen. Kennedy Diagnosed with a Brain Tumor

It's one of the scariest health diagnoses anyone could receive. Sen. Ted Kennedy from Massachusettes was diagnosed today with a malignant brain tumor after being hospitalized over the weekend for an unexplained seizure. He'll stay in the hospital until he and his family figure out treatment options.

His condition was diagnosed as having a malignant glioma, one of the more common types of of adult brain cancers. According to the Mayo Clinic, this type of tumor is diagnoised in nearly 17,000 Americans every year. A patient's treatment options depend on how aggressive the tumor is and can include a combination surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

Though reports say his spirits are high and that he's been joking with family members about the tests he's had to endure, some news organizations are starting to memorialize him as though he's already passed on.

This leads us to wonder about the various ranges of reaction to a serious diagnosis. How did you react when you received a diagnosis from your doctor? What did you do to cope in the immediate aftermath? [Abcnews.com]