(Daily Mail) – Since awakening from a three-day coma, Lamar Odom’s health has been making a steady improvement.
The former LA Lakers star, for the first time, could socialize and move around, and is ‘heading in the right direction,’ E! News reported.
The brothel where Lamar Odom almost died.According to the Los Angeles Times, Odom was ‘conversational,’ able to speak sentences and send text messages. The Times also reported that a spokeswoman for Odom’s aunt also said that he was improving, as he is able to breath on his own.
The 35-year-old was also helped out of his bed and onto a chair and also passed a critical swallow test, E! News reported.
However, most of the athlete’s communication comes through a simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down, E! News reported. A source close to the situation told E! News: ‘This is great progress but there is always the possibility for setbacks.’
Odom was taken off a ventilator on Friday night after he collapsed on Tuesday during a drink and drug-fueled binge in a Nevada brothel.
It remains uncertain what long-term damage Odom faces.
Previously, reports claimed four of his organs – including his kidneys – were failing and that doctors were losing hope for him the longer he was in a coma.
The good news about Odom regaining consciousness and breathing on his own comes after security footage emerged that appears to show him taking pills and drinking with a prostitute in the brothel where he was fell ill.
The surveillance clip reportedly shows the basketball star slumped over in his seat as he is given a drink and a shot by the bikini-clad woman at the Love Ranch Vegas on Saturday – three days before he collapsed.
Odom is later apparently seen taking a pill out of a small bag and popping it into his mouth, it was reported by Radar Online.
However, it is not clear from the grainy footage what the person was taking or whether he did ingest anything.
Entertainment Tonight meanwhile has released the itemized bill from Lamar’s stay at the Love Ranch brothel, which breaks down what he spent his money on – and reveals that prostitutes Ryder Cherry and Monica Monroe were made available to Lamar for the price of $37,500 each
He also spent $100 on transportation to the establishment, racked up a bar tab of $1,036 and shelled out $3,000 on another woman, whose name is Simone Sinclair.
‘It was Lamar’s idea. He said, ‘I’ll give you two girls for $75,000 the entire time I’m there — minimum of four days and max of five days,” said brothel owner Dennis Hof.
‘We picked him up at his place in Las Vegas, brought him out there, great mood, ready to have a good time. He just wanted a little peace and quiet and to get away from the pressures of his life.’
One Love Ranch employee said: ‘He was so sweet. This all turned into an absolute tragedy.’
It is not known what Lamar and Simone did together or why he paid the young woman – who is a Kardashian lookalike – $3,000.
In an interview with Access Hollywood on Friday, brothel manager TJ Moore said that Lamar had all the women at the ranch sign confidentiality agreements on Sunday while also revealing it was phone calls from his assistant that made the basketball player upset that day.
She also said he had watched an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians while he was at the establishment.
Lamar woke up from his coma on Friday and spoke to Khloe Kardashian, three days after he was found unconscious at a brothel.
Read on to see the effects of an overdose.
WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR BODY WHEN YOU OVERDOSE?
An overdose occurs where a person takes a quantity of drugs that their body is unable to cope with.
There are a number of signs and symptoms that a person has overdosed, that depend on the type of drug used.
DEPRESSANT OVERDOSE
Opioids, benzodiazephines and alcohol are all depressants, which means they slow the central nervous system, affecting breathing and heart rate.
Too much of any of these drugs can kill or cause permanent brain damage.
Overdoing it on alcohol can cause seizures, irregular breathing and unconsciousness.
STIMULANT OVERDOSE
Where a person overdoses on amphetamines, such as speed and ice, they are at high risk of suffering a heart attack, stroke, seizure or drug-induced psychotic episodes.
Signs and symptoms include:
chest pain severe headache seizures difficulty breathing hallucinations unconsciousness
MIXING DRUGS
Taking a cocktail of different illicit drugs at once puts undue strain on the body, and dramatically increases the risk of overdose and the subsequent health complications.
Hypoxic brain injury, caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain, is often a consequence of heroin overdose.
The brain injuries can cause coma, seizures and in the worst cases, brain death.
The longer a person is not breathing, the more potential damage is done, because the brain is being deprived of oxygen.
WHAT TRIGGERS A STROKE?
In severe cases, overdose can trigger a stroke, as well as heart attack, and severe respiratory problems.
Lifestyle factors including heavy or binge drinking and indulging in the use of illicit drugs, such as cocaine and methamphetamines, are both recognized by experts risk factors for stroke.
A stroke occurs when the blood supply to your brain is interrupted or reduced, experts at the Mayo Clinic state.
The condition can be caused by a blocked artery – known as an ischemic stroke – or the leaking or bursting of a blood vessel – known as a haemorrhagic stroke.
A haemorrhagic stroke happens when a blood vessel in the brain leaks or ruptures.
Haemorrhages can be caused by a number of conditions that affect blood vessels, typically uncontrolled high blood pressure, as well as weak spots in blood vessel walls, known as aneurysms.
Within the definition of haemorrhagic stroke, there are two different kinds.
An intracerebral haemorrhage is where a blood vessel bursts and spills into the surrounding brain tissue, damaging brain cells.
Any brain cells that lie beyond the leak do not receive oxygenated blood and are therefore also damaged.
High blood pressure and trauma are among the factors that can trigger this type of bleed.
Meanwhile the second form is a subarachnoid haemorrhage.
This is where an artery on, or near the surface of the brain bursts and spills into the space between the surface of your brain and skull.
This type of bleed is often signalled by a sudden and severe headache.
A subarachnoid haemorrhage is commonly caused by an aneurysm bursting, and can cause the blood vessels in the brain to widen and narrow erratically, causing brain cell damage by restricting blood flow.
Source: Mayo Clinic and Overdoseday.com
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