Schuller Returns to Southern California : Homecoming: The televangelist, looking pale and thin but sporting a smile, arrives at UCI Medical Center for an expected two-day stay. He has an ‘excellent chance at full recovery,’ his neurosurgeon says.
The Rev. Robert H. Schuller returned home to Southern California on Monday from Amsterdam and was given an “excellent chance” for a full recovery by his neurosurgeon. But the doctor added that the televangelist is still having some problems communicating after two emergency brain operations earlier this month.
Smiling and wearing a baseball cap, Schuller looked pale and thin as he was lifted from an ambulance onto a stretcher upon his arrival at UCI Medical Center in Orange in the afternoon, placed on a gurney and wheeled into the hospital to begin an expected two-day stay.
He lifted his left hand tentatively in a wave. Asked by a reporter how he felt, the host of the “Hour of Power” television show said, “Terrific!” and waved again.
Dr. Ronald Young, chief of UCI’s neurosurgery division, said Schuller’s awareness and motor skills were not permanently affected by the surgeries he underwent in Amsterdam after accidentally striking his head, but the preacher still has difficulty expressing himself.
“He can speak without any difficulty, but he has trouble finding the correct words to use,” Young said after examining Schuller at UCI. “For instance, he has trouble naming objects and sometimes finding specific words.”
Young also said Schuller, who was operated on for blood clots Sept. 2 and 10, sometimes gets confused if he attempts to relate long stories or complex concepts and tends to forget his original point. “Basically, he loses his train of thought,” Young said.
While in Europe for a private audience with the Pope and a visit to the Soviet Union, the founder of Garden Grove’s Crystal Cathedral bumped his head while entering a car and was found the next morning in his hotel room, semiconscious and in a fetal position.
Young said aspirin taken by the preacher on the evening he hit his head may have contributed to the injury because the medicine “interferes with the clotting process.”
“He was lucky there wasn’t more damage,” Young said.
Young said Schuller would probably stay at the hospital for 48 hours for observation and would be given anti-convulsion medication, a routine precaution for his condition.
After that, the doctor said Schuller will return home to recuperate and will be scheduled for speech and physical therapy to combat any post-operative problems. He said full recovery could take anywhere from six weeks to three months.
“I don’t have a crystal ball . . . (but) he has an excellent chance at full recovery,” Young said.
Schuller had been recuperating at Amsterdam’s Free University Hospital until his flight home Monday on his 65th birthday. His son, the Rev. Robert A. Schuller, told reporters Monday afternoon that after his father rested and underwent some more examinations, he would be treated to a small birthday party with family members.
Citing the strength of his father’s “old Dutch blood,” the son told reporters jokingly that Schuller was excited about the timely birthday because “he can actually collect on Medicare.” The younger Schuller also said he would continue to replace his father behind the pulpit of the internationally syndicated “Hour of Power” until his return.
On the 11-hour flight from the Netherlands, Schuller was accompanied by Dr. William Slooff from Free University Hospital, who said an oxygen tank, precautionary medication and the services of a nurse went unused during the lengthy trip. Slooff said Schuller sat up the entire time, read newspapers and ate.
Schuller bypassed customs at Los Angeles International Airport and was driven by ambulance to the UCI hospital, where he arrived about 2:45 p.m., accompanied by Young, family members and his spokesman, Michael Nason. Ministry officials put a tight guard around Schuller’s arrival and did not allow reporters to speak with him at any length.
Times staff writer Lynn Smith contributed to this report.