FRIENDS OF KANYE SAYS HE'S 'DEVASTATED' & 'IN DENIAL' AFTER MOTHER'S DEATH; UNAWARE SHE WAS HAVING SURGERY.

Kanye West is devastated and seemingly "in denial" after a botched plastic surgery likely led to the sudden death of his beloved mother, friends told the Daily News. The rapper, who has been in Europe on tour with his album Graduation, needed several days to gather the strength to fly back to the U.S., family friends said. Adding to the tragedy, a friend says, the Grammy-winning rapper didn't think his mom, Donda West, needed any physical improvement - much less radical cosmetic surgery. "I don't think Kanye was aware Donda was getting the surgery, or certainly the extent of it," a family friend said. "He loved and supported her just the way she was. He thought she was beautiful."

Donda West, 58, died on Saturday at a Los Angeles hospital just 24 hours after receiving a breast reduction and tummy tuck from Dr. Jan Adams, a well-known TV doctor with a hidden history of DUI convictions and six-figure medical-malpractice judgments. The coroner is investigating "complications of surgery" as the cause. An official determination won't be made for weeks. "Donda had image issues, like a lot of women," said the friend, to whom Donda West had confided in recent weeks.

A funeral is scheduled for Tuesday in Oklahoma City, according to the family friend.

Adams performed the surgery on Kanye's mom at a low-rent storefront clinic perched above a FedEx Kinko's store in a West Los Angeles strip mall, according to an address provided by the Los Angeles County coroner. The clinic, Brentwood Surgery Center, still had a display promoting Adams' skincare products on a faux Grecian column yesterday. Adams, 53, was the chief surgical resident at Manhattan's Lenox Hill Hospital from 1989 to 1990. He remained in hiding yesterday after offering his "deepest condolences" to Kanye's family in a statement released Tuesday.

The Medical Board of California already was seeking to revoke or suspend Adams' license over two drunken-driving arrests in 2002 and last year that led to convictions. Adams also was ordered to pay two separate malpractice judgments of $217,337 and $250,000 in 2001.