Lamar Odom Struggles To Walk & Talk Amid Hospital War & $10 Million Medical ‘Legal Hell’ With Khloe Kardashian

Lamar Odom is ready to leave the hospital where initially it seemed as if he was experiencing a miraculous recovery. With Khloe Kardashian by his side, her estranged husband improved gradually following the discovery of his unconscious body in a brothel after a drug overdose. But now, following weeks and weeks of treatment, doctors are ready to discharge Lamar not to a party to celebrate a complete recovery but to a place where he can go for long-term rehab. And it remains unknown if Odom will ever fully recover, reported Radar Online.

With the improvement gradually slowing down to the point of stagnating, it’s time to find a new facility for Lamar. And that’s become a problem that’s turned into a hospital search war because he requires a center for physical rehabilitation high in quality and safe in terms of his fame.

Lamar Odom Recovery Halts

“There really hasn’t been a lot of improvement in Lamar’s overall health and it’s time for him to transition from care at Cedars to another facility that can focus on his physical rehabilitation. Medically, there isn’t anything more that can be done for Lamar at Cedars Sinai,” an insider told Radar.

Don’t look to Khloe for answers. The insider also revealed that Kardashian does not want Odom near her own mansion because she’s already stressed and does not want the pressure to make daily visits to her estranged husband. Adding to the challenges of finding the right facility is that Lamar is incontinent.

At 36, Odom has remained in hospitals since October 13, when he was found unconscious after the overdose. Most recently, Lamar has been at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Initially, those helping him considered seeking a way that Odom can live in a Southern California home and then go for outpatient treatments. But Kardashian isn’t opening her doors to that option.

“Khloe has flat-out refused let Lamar move into her house,” a source revealed to Radar. “She doesn’t want her house to be a hospital. She has been very clear about that. Lamar’s people want him to be in a quality care facility. But they are having trouble finding one that is secure and will provide him with the treatment he needs.”

Lamar Odom Suffers Memory, Communication, Mobility Problems

How long will Odom need to be in treatment, and what remains ahead on the road to recovery for Lamar? Odom still cannot walk on his own, has memory problems, and challenges in communicating, an insider told E! News.

“He has not spoken in the halls during his therapy,” the insider revealed. “It appears he can’t walk on his own. He has a walker that he does short walks with the aid of therapists.”

And the insider described a struggling, weary 36-year-old, a former NBA player whose robust, athletic health has dwindled to the point of getting fatigued after using a walker to help him move.

“[Lamar] always is struggling. I saw the other day he got tired after a short session in the walker and had to be transferred back to his wheel chair.”

Although Khloe has sought to keep positive in her public statements about Lamar, she did finally discuss at one point what it was like, in her role as medical adviser (which she retains because the divorce is not finalized, and she thus remains legally his wife), to get the phone call to choose from potentially life-or-death options.

“It’s a horrible call to get,” Kardashian recalled. “Getting to the hospital and knowing he’s in a coma and having to run these tests or make medical decisions. It’s terrifying.”

Khloe described herself as making decisions based on “risk and reward,” evaluating whether an operation was worth performing.

“There’s an 80 percent chance if we do this operation, he might pass away. But also if we don’t do it, there’s a 90 percent chance he’ll pass away,” she described her dilemma at the time.

Kardashian provided her own estimate based on what she had been told of how long it will take Lamar to recover.

“They think, like, within a year and a half to two years that, mentally, he might be fully recovered. But they don’t know,” admitted Khloe.

Kardashian, in her role as his wife, also has been paying the medical bills, but now insiders are worried that with a predicted $10 million medical bill total by the end of 2015, Odom could be in trouble if and when Khloe finalizes that divorce, a source shared with Radar.

“By the end of the year, he’ll have easily made at least a $10m dent in his $55m fortune,” revealed the source. “There’s no end in sight and he’s completely unaware of what’s going on.”

Medical Bill “Legal Hell” Ahead?

While Kardashian insists on top-notch treatments for Lamar, insiders worry that eventually, the bills will cause legal battles.

“Khloe’s managing most of it, but to her money’s no object and she’s signing him up for the best treatments money can buy,” the insider explained. “The fact they’re still only married in name has everyone on Lamar’s side freaking out because they know he’s going to be left with all these bills when she finally kicks him out.”

However, the money is well-spent, admitted the source to Radar.

“He needs this treatment,” pointed out the insider. “It’s what saved his life – but who’s going to pay for it all is going to cause some legal hell down the line.”

[Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images]