Lombard toddler's heart surgery delayed

The wait for the family of 16-month-old Tim Grobart grew excruciatingly longer.

The Lombard toddler's risky heart surgery in Michigan was postponed Friday, until early Monday. That's the bad news.

But Tim's parents also learned some good news about their toddler's heart that will lead to Monday's procedure being less complicated and thus less risky, said Jeff Grobart, Tim's dad.

"All we can do is go the way the wind blows," Grobart said. "It'll all happen when it's ready to happen."

Tim was scheduled to undergo a roughly two-hour procedure during which a pediatric surgeon would put a band around his pulmonary artery to repair a leaking heart valve. But doctors delayed the procedure to free up space in the hospital's cardiac ICU where Tim will go initially to recover.

"All the beds were taken," Grobart said. "They (other children) needed a little bit more time to recover."

Tim's surgeon had also planned to replace his pacemaker, installed when he was 5 months old to remedy his irregular heartbeat. But during some pre-operative testing, doctors learned that Tim's heart was working effectively on its own with the existing pacemaker disabled, Grobart said.

"He had a perfect sinus rhythm," Grobart reported. "It's definitely good news."

The procedure not only aims to repair the leaking valve but also to prepare his heart for a future experimental surgery to further repair the organ.

Tim suffers from a rare heart condition in which the lower half of his heart operates in reverse. Instead of the stronger half of his heart pumping blood to his body, it is serving his lungs. And the weaker half is working in overdrive to pump blood to his body, the Grobarts say.

Only 5,000 to 10,000 people in the U.S. suffer from the condition, according to the Adult Congenital Heart Association Web site. Some have gone undiagnosed and untreated into their 40s or 50s, while other people have died in infancy.

The more complicated surgery, called a double switch, will involve disconnecting major arteries from the heart chambers they are currently attached to and reconnecting them to the correct chambers, his parents said. At that time, Tim's doctors also plan to implant the new pacemaker that was originally going to be installed Friday, Grobart said.

That way, the "safety net" will be in place if Tim's heart needs to be regulated again.

Even if all goes well with both surgeries, Tim's future will involve operations roughly every five years for pacemaker repairs and replacement. Thdere's also a chance he might need a heart transplant.

To help defray remaining medical expenses from Tim's surgeries and care, an account has been opened for him at Chase Bank in Lombard. Friends and relatives also are planning "Shop & Share" days in March at Jewel, where the grocer will donate a portion of identified sales to Tim.

Find out about fundraisers and follow Tim's progress at www.carepages.com. Search for Tim's page, which is under TimGrobart as one word.