Progress. After being hospitalized on Oct. 13, Lamar Odom is "getting stronger" every day, a source close to the former NBA player tells Us Weekly exclusively.
"Lamar is getting better every day," the source tells Us. "He is more coherent and can talk more."
The insider adds that while the athlete, 35, has some ways to go, he is "walking with help now." A week ago, Odom was discharged from Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas and transported via helicopter to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in L.A. It was a concern at the time whether he would even be able to sit up in the chopper.
"He is getting stronger every day," the source tells Us. "And has a great team of therapists and specialists working with him. He's 6' 11" and weighs a lot, so getting him to walk a little has been really hard."
As exclusively reported by Us this past Monday, Oct. 26, Odom has multiple medical hurdles to overcome in his ongoing journey to recovery — and one immediate issue is pressing: he needs a kidney transplant. A separate source told Us that he's "definitely" in need of the procedure and was on dialysis after suffering from kidney failure this past weekend.
However, the first source tells Us that doctors are trying to reverse the damage done to his kidneys. "They are also trying to get his kidneys to function on their own," the source says.
One outcome, however, remains uncertain: Experts are still unaware about the extent of damage done to Odom's brain after he was found unconscious at the Love Ranch South brothel in Pahrump, Nev., earlier this month. It was recently reported that Odom had supposedly suffered a dozen stories when he was found unconscious, causing potential brain damage.
"He's doing a tiny bit better, but he has a very long road back to full recovery — if that," the second source told Us earlier this week.
Watch Us Weekly's video above of 5 times we loved Lamar on reality TV
Amid the health crisis, Odom's wife, Khloe Kardashian, faced some backlash of her own on Wednesday, Oct. 28, after a new magazine cover featuring the Strong Looks Better Naked author was unveiled. The cover story included quotes about Odom, and fell flat with some critics who accused her of cashing in on her ex's hospitalization.
In a series of tweets, Kardashian blasted the negativity and clarified the timeline for when the cover was shot. "I want to make this VERY clear…. My people cover, I shot and interviewed for PRIOR to all the events that happened," she sniped. "It was contracted press for my book that I wrote months and months ago. Timing is what it is."
