Lamar Odom Faces Rehabilitation, Trials, And Questions After Hospital Discharge

This week, Lamar Odom saw something he hasn’t seen in nearly three months: the outside of a hospital. People reports that Lamar Odom was released from Cedar-Sinai Hospital sometime late last week. Odom was hospitalized after suffering a series of strokes following a drug overdose.

According to People‘s source, Odom was moved to a live-in rehab facility, where he will continue to receive therapy and treatment to recover from the brain damage he suffered.

Odom’s move to the rehabilitation facility is just the latest report of his miraculous recovery. After his October collapse, fans, family, and friends of the former NBA- and reality-television star feared the worse. Initial reports varied on the severity of his condition, but sources said that Odom suffered acute kidney failure and might need a transplant. Fortunately for Lamar Odom, his kidneys rebounded and a transplant wasn’t necessary.

In December, 2015, shortly before Christmas, a source told TMZ that Odom took a few steps without a walker for the first time since his mid-October hospitalization. Based on the timing, it’s possible that Odom’s first steps were a key indicator to his medical team that he was ready to progress to intensive cognitive and physical therapy.

But everything may not go as easily for Lamar Odom. To begin with, there may be family drama brewing. According to Us Weekly, Odom’s relocation to the Los Angeles rehab facility was orchestrated by his estranged wife, Khloe Kardashian. Allegedly, Khloe didn’t inform Lamar Odom’s family of the impending move. Reports have varied since October as to whether Khloe Kardashian is making legal and medical decisions on behalf of Odom. However, most outlets agree that Khloe Kardashian spent Christmas Day with Lamar Odom and his children in his hospital room. It seems unusal to facilitate Lamar Odom spending Christmas Day with his children, but leave them uninformed of his location.

Kardashian and Odom married in 2009 after a whirlwind romance that played out before America on Keeping Up with the Kardashians. After recurring drug issues, Kardashian and Odom separated in 2013, a move she recently admitted was a last ditch effort to shock him into sobriety. Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom signed their divorce papers in July, 2015, but due to a backlog in the California legal system, the divorce wasn’t finalized at the time of Odom’s overdose.

Lamar Odom might also face severe legal problems soon. According to TMZ, the Nye County Sheriff recommended that the Nye County District Attorney charge Lamar Odom with felony cocaine possession in connection with is drug overdose. Reportedly, the Nye County District Attorney intends to take Lamar Odom’s medical condition and mental state into account when deciding whether to charge him. In November, that seemed like a lucky break for Lamar Odom, but could his luck run out now that he’s been released to a rehab facility? Perhaps tellingly, the Nye County District Attorney has yet to announce whether Lamar Odom will face charges.

And then, there is the lingering elephant in the room. Before his overdose, Lamar spoke openly about his intention to return to the NBA. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Odom’s dedication to his potential NBA return was the reason he moved to Las Vegas. There was a problem, with his age and substance abuse history, no team seemed willing to give him a shot. Yet Odom is reportedly adamant about playing professional basketball again. Which means Lamar Odom has months of intense recovery and training ahead of him, potentially followed by a lifetime of disappointment in the way his career ended.

Lamar Odom was found unresponsive in a Nevada brothel on October 13, 2015. An investigation conducted by the Nye County Sheriff determined that Odom had ingested cocaine and a supplement marketed as herbal Viagra before the 12 strokes that nearly ended his life.

[Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images]