Patients down the hall from Lamar Odom say it's been bedlam

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From left: Bruce Jenner, Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian play at the 2011 BBVA NBA All-Star Celebrity Game at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

(Noel Vasquez / Getty Images)

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Lamar Odom of the Los Angeles Lakers is surrounded by a crush of reporters during Lakers media day at the Lakers training facility on September 29, 2009 in El Segundo.

(Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

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Television personality Khloe Kardashian and Los Angeles Laker Lamar Odom attend the “AXE Music One Night Only” concert series featuring Weezer at Dunes Inn Motel - Sunset on September 21, 2010 in Hollywood.

(Michael Buckner / Getty Images)

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Clippers President Andy Roeser congratulates Lamar Odom after a press conference announcing his return at the Los Angeles Clippers training facility in Los Angeles Monday July 2, 2012.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Actresss Khloe Kardashian, NBA player Lamar Odom and actress Kim Kardashian arrive at the premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Whiteout” at the Village Theater on September 9, 2009 in Los Angeles.

(Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Clippers forward, Lamar Odom, during the LA Lakers and the LA Clippers game at Staples Center.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Lamar Odom sits for his first interview as a Los Angeles Clipper during Media Day at the Clippers training facility in Playa Vista on September 28, 2012.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Clippers forward Lamar Odom warms up before the game against the Celtics on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Clippers forward Lamar Odom and Grizzlies center Marc Gasol wrestle for a rebound in the first half of game one of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs at Staples Center.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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A driver displays a basketball jersey with Lamar Odom’s name as the driver exits Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center on Oct. 13, 2015, in Las Vegas. The former NBA basketball player was hospitalized after he was found unconscious Tuesday at a Nevada brothel, authorities said.

(David Becker / Associated Press)

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Clippers star Lamar Odom plays against the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 2, 2013, in Oakland.

(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

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Clippers forward Lamar Odom during the Lakers-Clippers game at Staples Center in October 2012.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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The Clippers’ Lamar Odom dribbles the ball past the Nuggets’ Kenneth Faried at the Staples Center on Dec. 25, 2012.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Lamar Odom fights for a loose ball against a pair of Sacramento Kings players during a game at Staples Center on Dec. 21, 2012.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Lamar Odom listens to a question during a press conference announcing his return at the Los Angeles Clippers training facility in Los Angeles on July 2, 2012.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Khloe Kardashian is alongside Lamar Odom, a forward for the Lakers, who received the Sixth Man Award in 2011 at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Los Angeles.

For the record, Oct. 14, 1:54 p.m.: An earlier version of this caption described Khloe Kardashian as Lamar Odom’s ex-wife. Their divorce is still pending.

(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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A youthful Lamar Odom, a versatile 24-year-old forward with the Clippers, scores on a layup against the Lakers’ Horace Grant. (Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press)

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Heat forward Lamar Odom is all smiles after making a three-point shot in the fourth quarter of a game against the Chicago Bulls. Odom scored 25 points to lead Miami to a 90-83 victory. (Jeff Roberson / Associated Press)

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Heat forward Lamar Odom uses his length and leaping ability to attack the basket against Pacers center Jermaine O’Neal in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Odom had his best statistical season as a pro that season, averaging 17.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.1 steals and nearly 1 block a game. (Doug Pensinger / Getty Images)

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EL SEGUNDO, CA. JULY 331. 2009--Lamar Odom signs a new contract with the Lakers as Genreal Manager Mitch Kupchak looks on during a press conference in El Segundo Friday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Gallardo, Alex -- - LOS ANGELES, CA - DEC. 1, 2009: Lakers Lamar Odom (7) drives to the basket against the New Orleans Hornets Julian Wright (32) in the fourth quarter in a NBA basketball game DEC. 1, 2009 at the Staples Center. (Photo by Alex Gallardo/Los Angeles Times) (Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times)

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Lamar Odom in action against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland.

(John G. Mabanglo / EPA)

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Lamar Odom watches his new team, the Dallas Mavericks, play against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a preseason game before the start of a shortened NBA season. (LM Otero / Associated Press)

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Mavericks forward Lamar Odom works inside for a shot against Heat center Joel Anthony during the season opener on Christmas Day. (Ron Jenkins / McClatchy-Tribune)

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Lakers forward Pau Gasol embraces former teammate Lamar Odom before a game against the Dallas Mavericks last season at Staples Center. Gasol and Odom were both traded by the Lakers in a bid to acquire point guard Chris Paul, but the NBA nixed the deal. Odom demanded a trade after the failed deal and was shipped to Dallas. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Mavericks forward Lamar Odom is greeted by longtime Lakers fan Jack Nicholson duirng his first game back at Staples Center. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The next time Blake Griffin (32) elbows Lamar Odom while rebounding, be it accidental or not, it will be as teammates with the Clippers. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

By Kailyn Brown, John M. Glionna

Oct. 15, 2015 7:20 PM PT

Reporting from Las Vegas — For three days running, Glenda Jewell and her family have been caught in a celebrity whirlwind.

They don’t like it.

Jewell’s 30-year-old daughter, Sara Cooper, is being treated in the intensive care unit at Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center -- the same unit that is treating Lamar Odom, the former NBA player and reality TV star who was found unconscious at a Nevada brothel Tuesday.

Bedlam broke loose even before Odom arrived at the Las Vegas hospital Tuesday night, Jewell said in an exclusive interview.

FULL COVERAGE: Former Lakers star Lamar Odom >>

That included a lockdown.

“The night he got here, they told us that a celebrity was coming in and that we would have to stay in the room on lockdown for two to three hours, but they weren’t sure how long it would be,” recalled Jewell, a woman with short blond hair and glasses who lives in Wisconsin.

“They said we wouldn’t be able to leave the room unless we had permission.”

Odom, 35, remained critically ill late Thursday. His celebrity wife, Khloe Kardashian, has been at his side. Kardashian, whose divorce from Odom is not final, has been making medical decisions about his treatment, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

Since Odom’s arrival, the trauma unit has often been chaotic and stressful, Jewell said.

“Yesterday, it was very loud,” she told a Times reporter who gained access to the hospital Thursday. “They kept coming in and out.”

She added, “This is a very small unit, but when they congregate – [nursing] staff, managers, security and others – all of that noise is disruptive.”

Although Cooper, Jewell’s daughter, is being heavily sedated during treatment for a bowel obstruction, she awakened in the middle of the night Wednesday because of the noise, her mother said.

“It sounds like they’re having a party on this floor. Don’t they know people are sleeping?” Jewell quoted her daughter as saying.

A few rooms down, behind a closed curtain and across from the nurses’ station, medical staff scrambled to treat Odom. The former Laker and Clipper collapsed after a four-day stint that involved drinking, drugs and sex at the Love Ranch Vegas brothel in Crystal, Nev., authorities say.

Security on the hospital floor was tight. A nurse stopped all visitors, including one man returning to visit his wife, who reportedly had been at the hospital for more than a month.

A security guard vouched for him, Jewell said. “He’s OK,” the guard said. “I remember him.”

Cooper’s husband, George, said each time he left his wife’s floor, he encountered people in the elevator who asked about Odom’s condition. George Cooper replied that he didn’t know.

Cooper, 43, said he has seen several extremely tall men he assumes are basketball players visit Odom’s room over the last few days. He said he was not an NBA fan, however, and could not identify them.

Kobe Bryant was among Odom’s visitors, according to sources with the Lakers who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation. Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak was there too, the sources said.

Cooper said he wishes Odom well, but his main concern is his wife.

“I could care less whether it’s Obama or whoever is here, just as long as my wife is getting the care she needs,” he said.

Jewell said it isn’t right that average patients like her daughter must put up with the distraction.

“It’s not fair that innocent patients have to feel the ripple effect” of Odom being at the hospital, she said.

She looked around as she heard doors open and close on the ward.

“It’s quiet now,” Jewell said. “But it wasn’t yesterday.”

Twitter: @jglionna

Brown is a special correspondent. Staff writers Amy Kaufman and Mike Bresnahan in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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