Mastectomy

Location, location, location. It affects much more than home prices. It also appears to influence whether you have elective surgery. Data collected on Medicare patients across the country found that the number of such surgeries varies widely by region. The numbers, from 2003 through 2007, included rates of bypass surgery, gall bladder removal, back surgery and other procedures offered to patients as an option. The report was released Thursday by the Dartmouth Atlas Project and the Foundation for Informed Medical Decisions.

When she read the news, the patient burst into tears. The story documented flaws in a study that had helped change the course of breast cancer treatment. Results had been falsified. What was worse, the researchers conducting the clinical trial--part of a long-running and extremely important series of breast cancer studies--knew about the doctored data but remained silent.

Breast cancer doesn't mean the end of life. A mastectomy doesn't mean the end of living. Proof positive were a score of survivors of breast cancer, volunteers with the Reach to Recovery program of the American Cancer Society, who modeled at the "Fashions for Winners" luncheon Saturday. A sellout crowd of 600 packed the Arboretum of the Crystal Cathedral to see costumes from the "Golden Years of Hollywood," presented by Irene Mayer, niece of the late Louis Mayer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Question: Does anyone make an "evening" umbrella? I travel to New York frequently and always seem to need an umbrella when I'm all dressed up. Even the simplest black umbrella does not seem right when I'm in my favorite Hanae Mori evening gown.--S.U. Answer: You can go dancing in the rain if you make the evening umbrella illustrated here. The creative crew at Home Silk Shop's La Cienega store decorated this glamorous version in just under 12 hours. Here's how to duplicate their efforts.

"I wasn't nearly this popular when I had breasts," quipped best-selling author and TV journalist Betty Rollin. And with that, the wry New Yorker jump-started a 20-minute talk at Le Meridien Hotel in Newport Beach about cancer that played like stand-up comedy. Rollin is a contributing correspondent to NBC's "Today" show and author of six books, including the 1976 best-seller "First You Cry" (made into a TV movie starring Mary Tyler Moore), an emotional account of her breast cancer and first mastectomy.

The scare with grave consequences subsided in 50 weeks into a we-can-deal-with-it threat, even if it will loom ominously for at least several more years. It has changed Jerry Sloan for the better, but none of his Utah Jazz players are about to joke with their coach about his transformation, because he hasn't changed that much. "They're afraid to," said Karl Malone, one of those players.

Shopping for underwear sounds either mundane or glamorous, depending on your point of view -- but it can also be daunting. "People have no idea what they're doing," said Bonnie Kaufman, "because it's like buying a mattress. What do you really know about mattresses?" Kaufman, the president and founder of the Creative Woman: The Wizard of Bras boutique in Monrovia -- which stocks 49 brands of brassieres -- is talking about women and bra shopping. More specifically, she's calling out the sorry state of sagginess that exists in the average American woman's bra wardrobe.

The gate to Kim Kardashian's driveway has shut on Kanye West's very expensive Lamborghini. And no, that's not a euphemism. The rapper, 35, currently in New York, was having his $750,000 Lamborghini Aventador delivered Tuesday to Kardashian's L.A. mansion after it was serviced. But the very expensive car's driver, who was probably nervous enough about driving the luxury ride, didn't drive fast enough up the gated driveway and the electric barrier closed on both sides of the car, according to X17, which filmed the incident.

Kathy Bates has beaten cancer yet again, she revealed Wednesday. "Hey All, sorry for the long silence," she said in a two-part Twitter message. "I was diagnosed with breast cancer 2 months ago & am recovering from a double mastectomy. ... I don't miss my breasts as much as I miss Harry's Law. ;-) Thanks for all the sweet tweets. Y'all kept me going. " The "Titanic" actress was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2003, an experience she discussed in the video above, for the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.

Pamela McGee spent two days dressed down in an orange jumpsuit in a jail cell in Sacramento. There was no Nike swoosh on this outfit. It was January 1998, years removed from when Pamela and twin sister Paula helped USC win the 1983 and '84 national championships in women's basketball. Her private block in the civil section was across the hallway from a conglomeration of alleged criminal offenders.