getElementStatus("combo_item_1","combo_header\@class");

sub getElementStatus{

my ($element, $attribute_tested ) = @_;

WAIT: {
for (1..60) {
    if (eval {$sel->is_element_present_ok($element)})
    { pass; last WAIT }
      sleep(1);
    }
  fail("timeout");
  }

my $status = $sel->get_attribute($attribute_tested);

  return $status;
}