Schuller to Return to U.S. on Monday : Recovery: An examination shows no further difficulty with blood clots. Televangelist may be allowed to recuperate at home.

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, recovering from two brain operations within a week in Amsterdam, will return to the United States on his 65th birthday Monday, officials said.

Doctors at Amsterdam’s Free University Hospital told Schuller’s family that a Thursday CAT scan of his brain showed “no further difficulty” from blood clots that cut short a planned trip to the Soviet Union and the Vatican, said Michael Nason, spokesman for the renowned televangelist.

Schuller reportedly hit his head on a car door in Amsterdam and was found unconscious the next day in his hotel room by an aide. He underwent emergency brain surgery Sept. 2 and had a follow-up operation Tuesday.

Nason, who returned from the Netherlands Thursday, said Schuller’s spirits seemed high, although the minister was clearly eager to get home.

“He’s delighted that doctors have given him the green light to return home,” Nason said of Schuller, the founder and pastor of Garden Grove’s Crystal Cathedral.

Dr. Ronald Young, the chief neurosurgeon at UCI Medical Center in Orange, who will handle Schuller’s treatment when he arrives here, said Friday that there is a slim chance the televangelist will be hospitalized upon return, although a recovery at home is more likely.

Young on Friday also gave some insight into Schuller’s early post-operative condition, saying that he suffered bouts of confusion, paralysis of the right arm, a general clumsiness with the right side of his body, and some difficulty with speech.

“It can be compared to when someone gets punched in the arm, and it hurts for a little while and than the pain goes away, but the bruise remains,” Young said.

He explained that the speech and movement problems were largely ended by Schuller’s second round of surgery, which relieved the pressure on the left side of his head. The pressure was a result of swelling and residual blood spurred by the first operation, which, in turn, was aimed at correcting a clot caused when Schuller struck his head.

Young has not spoken to Schuller’s doctors in the Netherlands since Saturday, but he said he plans to confer with them by telephone during the weekend. He also is to meet Monday with Dr. W. Sloof, a neurosurgeon from Amsterdam traveling with the Schuller family as a precaution.

Schuller still has not spoken in public or to the press since the operations, and Nason said that silence is likely to continue until his return stateside. While Schuller’s silence may prompt questions about the internationally syndicated preacher’s condition, Nason stresses that Schuller shows no signs of permanent disability.

“He has progressed every day,” Nason said. When he last saw Schuller Thursday, Nason said, “I didn’t see any problem with his speech, I saw him using his right hand, I even saw him do some writing. I saw him walking around--just in general, he looks better all the time.”

Crystal Cathedral co-pastor Bruce Larson said there are no birthday celebration plans forSchuller, who he said will probably be exhausted from the 11-hour flight. He added, though, that employees and volunteers throughout the ministry had gathered to send their leader videotaped “birthday/get-well cards” for him to watch.