SELLING HOPE OFF THE RACK; NEW UCLA SPECIALTY SHOP CATERS TO CANCER PATIENTS.

Byline: Anne Burke Daily News Staff Writer

When Elena Michaels started losing hair to chemotherapy, she took one look at Demi Moore's ``G.I. Jane'' shaved head and said to herself: ``That's for me.''

Out came the electric shaver. Now, the Santa Clarita psychotherapist, who is battling ovarian cancer, covers up with wigs, colorful scarves and straw hats decorated with pretty pins.

She can find those things at any department store. But these days, Michaels prefers shopping at UCLA's new cancer-specialty store, called Reflections. The shop, located on the first floor of the UCLA Medical Center, stocks everything for the cancer patient, from silicone breast prostheses - they come in pink and brown - to alluring teddies.

``Just because you have breast cancer doesn't mean you can't be sexy,'' said Anne Coscarelli, a UCLA Medical Center psychologist and the store's director.

While cancer patients turn to physicians to fight their disease from the inside, they're turning to cancer-specialty stores to help reverse the ravages of cancer from the outside.

``It's a very supportive environment here,'' said Michaels, 47, wearing a lush, red wig that cascaded over her shoulders.

A chemotherapy patient battling breast cancer stopped by the store on a recent morning, complaining about a maddeningly itchy scalp.

She plopped herself down on a comfy, upholstered chair and without a trace of hesitation, whipped off her cloth hat.

Underneath were big bald spots and straggly tufts of gray hair.

``I'm not real vain at this point, but I think it would have been harder to do this at a drugstore,'' said the woman, a 59-year-old Burbank resident, who asked not to be named.

Another woman who was scheduled for a mastectomy the next day purchased a temporary breast prosthesis so she could keep her surgery a secret from co-workers.

A retired man looked for a special cream for his elderly aunt, whose arms were irritated because of a cancer-related condition that causes swelling in the arms.

The right stuff

Reflections, part of UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been doing business since Aug. 1 and will celebrate its grand opening on Thursday.

Coscarelli stocked the shop with essentials and frills.

There are colorful scarves - cotton rather than silk, so they'll stay atop bald heads. Soft, lacy camisoles, cut high to conceal mastectomy scars. Bras with inside pockets to hold breast pads. Aluminum-free powder and underarm deodorant, safe for use during chemotherapy.

Hats of all kinds rest on wood racks. Wide-brimmed straw hats, floppy denim hats, elegant turbans and sporty bandanna hats.

Other shelves are lined with books to inspire and amuse, including this one: ``Not Now .... I'm Having a No Hair Day.''

Because of chemotherapy, radiation and other factors, cancer patients often don't recognize the person they see when they look in the mirror, Coscarelli said.

``You may have lost your hair, your eyebrows, your eyelashes, and your skin may change,'' she said. ``We want to help people deal with those physical changes. It's a psychologically healing experience to walk in here with no hair and find a pretty hat that makes you look better.''

Barbara Badgett, 43, who is battling a brain tumor, stopped by the store last week and bought a whimsical baseball cap decorated with snap-on bugs.

``You don't have to worry about who's looking when you take your one hat off and pop another one on,'' said Badgett, a resident of Murietta.

The store is part of the Jonsson Center's Rhonda Fleming Mann Resource Center for Women With Cancer. Customers are invited to take advantage of the center's psychosocial care, which includes lectures, counseling and support groups.

In the beginning

Fleming Mann, a retired screen star, and her husband, Ted Mann, founder of Mann Theatres, have donated millions of dollars to UCLA Medical Center since the cancer death seven years ago of the actress's sister, Beverly Engel.

The Manns, along with other benefactors, came up with the store's $300,000 start-up costs. The business is now operating in the red, but Coscarelli's goal is to break even.

Fleming Mann hopes the store helps cancer patients avoid many of the indignities that her sister endured during her 17-year battle with a rare form of ovarian cancer.

``We used to go shopping for wigs and prostheses all over the place. Beverly Hills, the Valley, Hollywood. But they really didn't know how to fit them. Beverly always ended up looking like she was walking sideways,'' Fleming Mann recalled recently.

Cancer specialty stores are becoming more common. The John Wayne Cancer Institute at St. John's Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica has been selling products for cancer patients at its Positive Appearance Center for three years.

The American Cancer Society offers catalog sales of products for cancer patients and sponsors free make-over classes called ``Look Good ... Feel Better.''

The Reflections store offers competitive prices. But not everything has a tag hanging from it, Coscarelli said.

A woman helping her sister cope with a new mastectomy stopped by the store last week. Ostensibly, she was there to get an adjustment for her sister's prosthesis. But what she really needed was a shoulder to cry on.

In the privacy of a fitting room, the woman unleashed a torrent of tears on Lisa P. Dow, a store consultant.

``Some people just need somebody they can unload on,'' Dow said.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) Barbara Badgett, a breast cancer survivor now fighting a brain tumor, has a scarf fitted by Linda Secher at Reflections, a specialty store at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Phil McCarten/Daily News

(2) Humor is part of the mix at Reflections, which offers everything from wigs and breast prostheses to teddies and aluminum-free deodorant.

David Sprague/Daily News

(3--Cover--Color) Help for the healing

Specialty store for cancer patients provides wigs, hats and a shoulder to cry on