Child Cited as Prop. 187 Casualty Had Leukemia : Immigration: Anaheim boy also suffered bacterial infection. His death gains more political ramifications.

Julio Cano, the 12-year-old Anaheim boy whose parents said they delayed medical treatment because they were afraid of being deported, had acute leukemia, coroner’s officials revealed Wednesday.

Preliminary tests also indicated the boy’s body, in a weakened state because of the leukemia, might have been racked with a bacterial infection that led to heart failure, law enforcement sources working the case said.

Medical experts say that acute leukemia often can be successfully treated, even in its latter stages.

Although it remained unclear to what degree emergency medical intervention might have helped the youngster, his death Saturday took on weighty political implications as those on both sides of Proposition 187, including Gov. Pete Wilson, reopened pre-election wounds with divisive comments.

“We will get all kinds of stories of that sort, I suppose,” Wilson said in reply to a question about the boy’s death during a live television interview Wednesday on “Good Morning America.” But the governor said the burden that illegal immigrants place on medical services has deprived citizens from getting care they deserve.

Latino leaders, meanwhile, said they might amend their lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 187 by citing the boy’s death.

“This is a good case on which to make a plea that all children be exempt from all provisions of Proposition 187, and make a plea directly to state government,” said Fabian Nunez, an Ontario-based activist who planned to meet with the family.

Julio’s parents, illegal immigrants from Mexico, say they were afraid to take the Sycamore Junior High School student to the hospital because they feared quizzing about their immigrant status.

If it takes effect--the initiative faces multiple court challenges--Proposition 187 would bar illegal immigrants from receiving education, health care--except in emergencies--and most other public services. It also would require teachers and administrators to report illegal immigrants.

The family was shocked but responded guardedly after learning the preliminary autopsy results.

“We don’t have any reaction. We have to wait for more results and see what our lawyer says,” the father said. “We didn’t know it was leukemia. I still don’t know. I don’t know if someone is responsible for this.”

A family friend expressed disbelief at the diagnosis, saying the family had no clue the boy had a terminal illness.

“The boy looked healthy,” said Belinda Castro Palomino, a church member who was acting as the family’s spokesperson. “His mother doesn’t believe that he had leukemia. They only took him to one doctor and he didn’t diagnose any type of cancer.”

While Proposition 187 proponents suggested Wednesday that Julio’s death was being exploited for political purposes, the account of Julio’s days leading up to his death Saturday, at a minimum, highlights the difficulty illegal immigrant parents face in deciding when to take a child to the hospital, and the plight facing the poor who have fewer options when it comes to medical care.

After Julio fell ill Monday, Nov. 13, Julio’s father said he and his wife considered taking him to a hospital, but had been denied non-emergency care before. With the passage of Proposition 187, they believed their immigrant status would be challenged, he said. The couple also was unaware that the provisions of Proposition 187 pertaining to education and medical care had not taken effect yet, they said.

The father said he waited until Friday to take his son to the doctor because that is payday at the factory where he works and he needed $60 for an appointment at a nearby clinic.

Initially, physician N. Radd Radparvar said he treated the boy for constipation and rectal pain.

A general practitioner, Radparvar said he administered a “small enema” and gave the boy an antibiotic--Cephalexin--and vitamins. He said he instructed the family to “rush” him to an emergency room if the youngster’s condition did not improve.

Asked to elaborate Wednesday, Radparvar said he took a urine sample, which contained “leukocytes and blood,” signs that “there is something wrong, possibly a kidney infection.”

Leukocytes are the white cells in blood, lymph and tissue that help the body fight infection.

“The only positive clinical sign and symptom I had was that one,” he said of the urine sample.

The doctor said he told the family that they should seek further tests at a hospital.

Radparvar said he didn’t prescribe the medication, but gave it to the family because he knew they had little money.

“We did our best,” he said. “I am proud of myself. They have more than $30 in vitamins and antibiotics because I knew that the baby was really weak.

“What else could I do? We did an enema. . . . I talked with him. When he left I asked him, ‘How do you feel?’ He left in better condition. What do you want?

“The mother and father, they were grateful,” Radparvar said.

The father, however, said the doctor never told him what to monitor about his son’s condition and never mentioned taking him to a hospital.

After they brought the boy home Friday and gave him an antibiotic, the father said Julio was “up all night going to the bathroom.”

The next morning, when the father phoned home during a work break at 8:30 a.m., the mother told him their son’s condition had worsened.

Shortly thereafter, the mother left the house to get Julio a drink at the store. When she returned, he could not speak.

The mother contacted a neighbor, who promptly called 911.

Joe Gutierrez, an Anaheim Fire Department captain and paramedic, said Julio wasn’t breathing and had no heartbeat when firefighters arrived.

After paramedics attempted unsuccessfully to revive him, the youngster was taken to Anaheim Memorial Hospital where further attempts at resuscitation failed.

He never took another breath, but Gutierrez said they tried to revive the boy at the hospital until roughly 10 a.m.

In the aftermath of Julio’s death, Los Amigos of Orange County, a Latino activist group, Wednesday urged Latinos throughout California to boycott work, school and merchants on Dec. 12 in protest of the initiative.

Other activist groups began reviewing the case to determine whether it could serve as the backbone for a lawsuit asking that all children be excluded from Proposition 187.

John Palacio, the Orange County representative of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said the organization’s attorneys had spoken to the family and planned to amend its class-action suit seeking a permanent injunction against Proposition 187.

“We have a deadline of Monday to amend our class-action lawsuit. We currently have received the declaration from the family for inclusion in our lawsuit,” he said.

And at a meeting Wednesday, members of Los Amigos of Orange County clasped hands and bowed their heads in remembrance of Julio.

“We want to convey to the family that has lost this little boy that there are many people who care,” said Galal Kernahan, who led a prayer. “And we ask help for us to be open and appreciative of the differences of others.”

Amin David, president of Los Amigos, said a diagnosis of acute leukemia possibly could have been made if the family had sought medical care earlier.

“ ‘Could somebody have diagnosed that?’ is a question that I ask,” he said. “We think that hospital tests would have brought it out.”

The disease takes two basic forms. One type, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, has a survival rate of about 70% after five years, if treatment is provided. The other type, non-lymphoblastic leukemia, is more difficult to treat and has a 40% to 50% survival rate.

Experts in childhood leukemia offered mixed views on whether the youngster could been saved.

Dr. Alexis Thompson, an assistant professor in pediatric hematology-oncology at the UCLA School of Medicine, said it would have depended on which form of acute leukemia the child had.

She said a child with an aggressive infection could be overwhelmed before obtaining adequate chemotherapy.

Dr. Stuart Siegel, head of the division of hematology-oncology at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, said that even if the disease is diagnosed late, there often is a “significant chance” of treating the child successfully.

Proposition 187 proponents denounced efforts to link the controversial immigration measure to the boy’s death. They inveighed against Latino activists for what they say is exploiting a tragic situation for political ends.

“Of course, we are sad for the family,” said Barbara Coe, a founding member of the Proposition 187 movement. “But the anti-187 people will do whatever is necessary to get this measure defeated.

“It’s incredibly deceitful.”

If anything, some leading Proposition 187 supporters reasoned that any responsibility lies with Julio’s parents or the foes of the measure.

“The parents are endangering the children by bringing them here illegally,’ said Ron S. Prince of Tustin, who headed the pro-187 “Save Our State campaign.

Addressing the subject during the national television interview, Gov. Wilson brushed aside the Orange County case and said the ballot measure will ensure more medical services for legal residents of California.

“What we’re also hearing from emergency room physicians is that some felt that because of the tremendous burden placed upon them by illegal immigrants able to claim under the law certain emergency care, that they were compelled to cut back on services to everyone,” Wilson said.

“You have to say we are having to put our own needs first,” the governor continued, “ . . . when you cannot provide services, when you’re shortchanging the education of legal residents, the health care of legal residents, because the federal government has failed to do its job and then has compounded that failure by sticking the states with the cost.”

The boy’s parents moved to Orange County from Acapulco four years ago. Julio and the couple’s other older children, ages 13 and 11, were born in Mexico and joined their parents here only three years ago. They are all undocumented, the father said.

The couple’s youngest children, age 1 month and 1 year, were born in the United States and are thus citizens.

Even before the passage of Proposition 187, the couple was unsure where to seek medical care, they said. The three eldest children carry Medi-Cal cards ensuring only emergency and pregnancy-related services.

Although the autopsy was conducted Sunday, coroner’s officials are awaiting the results of further tests before issuing an official cause of death. One law enforcement source working the case said it usually takes weeks to do the kinds of preliminary tests that were done in a matter of days in Julio’s case. But “this was handled differently,” the source said, because of the possible political ramifications.

Felipe Soria Ayuso, the Mexican consul in Santa Ana, said the consulate is helping to arrange for Julio’s remains to be flown to their native Acapulco, where they want to bury him.

Times staff writers Paul Feldman and Julie Marquis contributed to this report.

Acute Leukemia: A Primer

Leukemia is a form of cancer involving an abnormal proliferation of white blood cells in the bone marrow. About 3,200 children develop acute leukemia each year, accounting for about 40% of all new childhood cancer cases, according to Dr. Stuart Siegel, head of the division of hematology/oncology at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

SYMPTOMS

Acute leukemia can be difficult to diagnose early because symptoms may develop late or may be similar to those of other, less serious conditions. Some symptoms:

* Gum bleeding

* Frequent bruising

* Anemia

* Paleness

* Weight loss

POSSIBLE CAUSES

* Virus

* Exposure to chemicals, such as benzene; also to cancer-fighting drugs that lower resistance

* Exposure to high doses of radiation

TREATMENTS

* Blood transfusions

* Chemotherapy, involving a variety of anti-cancer drugs

* Large doses of antibiotics to defend the body against opportunistic infections

* Bone marrow transplants for advanced cases

TREATMENT RESULTS

Left untreated, acute leukemia can be fatal in a few weeks to a few months. Of the two types of acute leukemia, lymphoblastic is the most common in children and often responds to treatment.

* The five-year survival rate for children treated with chemotherapy is about 70%.

* Most relapses occur within two years of treatment.

* For those patients who have another, harder-to-treat form of the disease, called non-lymphoblastic leukemia, chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant may be needed.

Sources: Dr. Stuart Siegel; “Textbook of Medicine,” 19th Edition, 1992; “The American Medical Assn. Encyclopedia of Medicine,” 1989, Random House; American Red Cross

Researched by MARK I. PINSKY and THOMAS MAUGH II / Los Angeles Times

Firefighters Seek Money for Funeral

The Anaheim Firefighters Assn. is collecting money to help Julio Cano’s family pay for funeral expenses.

Firefighters had no estimate available Wednesday of how much they had collected so far. But Richard Chavez, president of the Anaheim firefighters group, which is sponsoring the fund, said the phones “have been ringing all day.”

Contributions can be mailed to: Julio Cano Trust Fund, Anaheim Area Credit Union, P.O. Box 4620-P, Anaheim, CA 92803-4620.