Lamar Odom's kidneys 'shot'

Los Angeles - Days after receiving encouraging news in his fight against a life-threatening condition, former NBA star Lamar Odom suffered a setback on Tuesday, according to a media report.

Odom's kidneys are failing, TMZ is reporting. The organs that have failed have all bounced back to a significant degree except the kidneys. 

"His kidneys are shot," a source told the celebrity gossip site. 

Odom will undergo six hours of dialysis a day, but the bottom line is the 35-year-old may need a kidney transplant.

All signs were looking positive for Odom to rally before receiving the latest news.

On Monday, the LA Daily News reported Odom had begun physical therapy, which will determine his walking capability.

Hours later, he was discharged from a Las Vegas hospital and transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles for better specialised treatment.

Odom will undergo brain tests to help determine the extent of the damage the strokes had on him since being found unconscious by paramedics on October 13 at a legal brothel, Love Ranch in Crystal, Nevada, just outside Las Vegas following three days of partying.

Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly said a female employee of the brothel called 911 dispatchers to say Odom had used cocaine on Saturday, taken 10 tabs of a purported herbal sexual performance supplement, and alcohol, and had "white stuff" coming from his nose and mouth before losing consciousness.

Odom suffered a heart attack and organ failure. He was placed in a medically induced coma and dialysis on Wednesday. He opened his eyes after about 72 hours in the coma.   

The troubled 35-year-old regained consciousness on Friday and was breathing on his own, without a tube or help from a ventilator.

Odom's condition improved further over the weekend to the point where he was reportedly texting and speaking sentences to family and friends, including his estranged wife, reality TV star Khloe Kardashian, who had been at his side in the intensive care unit at the Sunrise Hospital and Medical Centre in Las Vegas.

Odom is expected to survive, but he is not out of the woods yet and faces a long rehabilitation period.

Doctors continue to decline comment on his condition, reportedly telling his friends and family that rehabilitation could take many months. They believe an undetermined amount of damage to his body and speech could be permanent.

A 14-year-NBA veteran, Odom won two NBA Championships with the LA Lakers. The former league sixth man of the year last played in 2012-13 for the LA Clippers, helping them reach the Western Conference finals.

Since being waived last season by the New York Knicks, Odom has been in an apparent personal downward spiral. 

He was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in 2013 and did not contest the charge.

In 2009, Odom married Kardashian, but she filed for divorce in December 2013 in a still-pending case.