Lamar Odom is back in Los Angeles, recovering from his overdose and stroke suffered last week, and is doing considerably better each day. His Aunt released this statement, via the Los Angeles Times.
However, Odom has a long road of recovery still ahead.
That includes two emergency medical procedures — read: surgeries — in the past couple days, according to TMZ.Difficult to blame him. Longer term he has more surgeries ahead, likely including a kidney transplant, reports Mark Medina at the Los Angeles Daily News.
Odom will likely need a kidney transplant, according to multiple sources familiar with his recovery. Ever since being hospitalized last week after becoming unresponsive at a Las Vegas brothel, Odom has received daily kidney dialysis treatment....
Odom is expected to need months of dialysis and physical therapy, sources said. But for patients with end stage kidney failure, dialysis does not improve the condition of the actual kidney.
Odom likely also has some level of brain damage from the stroke (or strokes).This incident — as the latest evidence in a long line of stories about NBA players struggling to adapt to life after basketball — is prompting the NBA players union to consider how it can help the transition, union president Michelle Roberts told Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports.
“There has been a dearth of services in terms of adhering to the guys’ needs. One of the things we spend a lot of time dealing with is the complete absence of any type of transition program for the guys. On one hand you would say that’s the responsibility of the [National Basketball] Retired Players Association, but they don’t have the resources.
“We’re sort of deciding how we can fill that space. Technically, our players are paying dues for services of current members. So there will have to be some buy-in. There is also clearly a lot of buy-in from the membership in terms of our operating health insurance for any retired player. The desire to be supportive of retired players is there among the current members. But what we need to figure out and create is a transition program under the auspice of the NPBA with the collaboration of the NBRPA. Lamar is a great example of why it needs to be done.”
Odom — an NBA champion and former Sixth Man of the Year — was found unconscious last week at a Nevada brothel after what had been three days of drugs, drinking and more. He was rushed to a Las Vegas area hospital, where he battled for his life, but after stabilizing he transferred to a Los Angeles area hospital. While he’s making progress, these latest reports are a reminder of just how far he has to go.
Through the recovery, his estranged wife Khloe Kardashian has returned to his side, and the two have rescinded their divorce papers.