Lombard preschooler home after heart surgery

Tim Grobart spent his first few hours home from the hospital eating sausage pizza and playing with his adored big brother, Lou.

The red-haired 3-year-old is "healthy and happy to be home," said Jeff Grobart, Tim's dad.

The Lombard preschooler is recovering from a successful "double switch" - one of the most complex cardiac surgeries performed - to rewire his heart. The June 16 surgery was his fifth, and riskiest, to correct a rare heart defect.

Thursday was Tim's first full day home after more than two weeks at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. Not surprisingly, he's still a little weak and "we're going to let him kind of dictate what he can and can't do," Grobart said.

If Tim is up to it, the family might make it to the Taste of Lombard this weekend to see the fireworks. If not, they'll watch from their back yard.

Next week, his pediatrician will remove Tim's last remaining suture, opening up the possibility of playing in the sprinkler and other water fun.

In the meantime, there's that big box of "Star Wars" toys that arrived at the hospital direct from Lucasfilm, thanks to a little finagling from one of Tim's grandpas.

For the Grobarts, the past two weeks have been filled with both harrowing and happy moments.

The first day after surgery, the level of oxygen in Tim's blood plummeted briefly to 60 percent - low enough to raise fears of brain damage if it continued. The next day, he went into full cardiac arrest in front of his parents.

"He was waking up and his eyes rolled back and everything started crashing on him," Grobart said. "The next thing we knew, there were 20 people in the room." For 15 minutes, doctors took turns performing CPR.

"I don't think I've ever been more scared in my life," Grobart said.

But after those first frightening days in the intensive care unit, Tim's little body started to mend.

Each day, the feisty preschooler seemed a little more like himself. He wanted to watch "Toy Story" with his favorite nurse, Amy, sitting close by his side. He ate carryout sushi. He didn't want to answer so many questions from mom and dad.

"You guys are driving me crazy," he complained, his voice still raspy after so many days with a tube down his throat.

"That's when we knew he was fine," Jeff Grobart said.

Before surgery, the lower chambers of Tim's heart, the ventricles, operated in reverse. The chamber that is supposed to pump blood to his body served his lungs; the weaker chamber was working in overdrive to pump blood throughout his body. Surgeons disconnected the major blood vessels and reconnected them to the correct chambers.

Tim also got a new pacemaker, and will continue to need specialized cardiac care for the rest of his life.

The family is planning to celebrate his recovery later this summer with a trip to Florida to see Disney World and go to a Star Wars convention - an extra-special treat for the little guy who sometimes likes to be called "Baby Yoda."

Throughout the hospital stay, Jeff and Christine kept family and friends updated daily on blogs at www.littletimmygrobart.com and www.carepages.com (TimGrobart).

Many people, even some the Grobarts didn't know, responded with notes of encouragement and support.

"Just knowing that everybody back home was rooting for Tim" helped the parents keep their spirits up, Jeff Grobart said.

"It can be a little overwhelming just thinking about it."