Alert() Statement Lets Code Work, Remove It, Code Errors Out

I am a novice, almost to an intermediate-level JavaScript guy, so much of this is new to me. I appreciate your patience reading this.

I have a routine that creates some HTML on the fly (updateFilters() function) and after the HTML is created, I attempt to access some fields (elements) on the form itself.

I works fine if I place an alert() statement after the HTML is created, but when I remove, the code errors out.

I have tried the setTimeout() statement, but I cannot grab the element --- undefined or null is returned. It seems that the form is the only element I can get a handle on --- everything else is undefined or null...

Here is the code:

function editQuery() {
var f;
var x;
var myForm = document.forms[0];
// Get the row filters that were used in the last query..
for (f = 1; f < 16; f++) {
var filter = eval("myForm.FilterList_" + f);
if (filter.selectedIndex > 0) {
var methodElement = element("FilterMethod_" + f);
var methodIndex = methodElement.selectedIndex;
var savedFilterMethodValue = methodElement.options[methodIndex].text;
var choicesElement = element("FilterChoices_" + f);
var choicesIndex = choicesElement.selectedIndex;
if (isNaN(choicesIndex)) {
var savedFitlerValues = choicesElement.value;
}
else {
var savedFitlerValues = choicesElement.options[choicesIndex].text;
}
updateFilters(filter); // update the filters
// take the saved methods and values and then update the selections
// Alert here makes the code work..
// alert("Try this");
// Wait for HTML..
setTimeout("completeEdit()", 1000);
function completeEdit() {
// Since the object was updated, get the object again..
var methodElement = element("FilterMethod_" + f);
for (x = 0; x < methodElement.options.length; x++) {
if (methodElement.options[x].text == savedFilterMethodValue) {
methodElement.options[x].selected = true;
break;
}
else {
methodElement.options[x].selected = false;
}
}
// Since the object was updated, get the object again..
var choicesElement = element("FilterChoices_" + f);
for (x = 0; x < choicesElement.options.length; x++) {
if (choicesElement.options[x].text == savedFitlerValues) {
choicesElement.options[x].selected = true;
break;
}
else {
choicesElement.options[x].selected = false;
}
}
// Only display next row if f = 2..
// If only one row was used, no reason display the next row..
if (f == 2) {
displayNextFilter(f - 1); // display it
}
}
clearTimeout(timeOut);
}
}
}

Do I have to pass the object (the form, the elements) to the completeEdit() function in the setTimeout() statement?