my husband is in the hospital with a collapsed lung secondary to stage IV non small cell squamous carcinoma.  The doctors told us he also had a "mild" heart attack during the lung episode.  It showed up in blood work.  What would that be and what is the number I should be concerned about.  Thank you!
Hi, Thanks for writing in. A patient having a cancer can also have a heart problem and the two being unrelated if that was there from before or can be a recent development after the cancer. The heart is a biological pump and helps in pumping blood to other parts of the body. It might happen that he previously had a coronary heart disease which led to decreased blood supply to the heart and when he had a collapsed lung, this problem aggravated, and he suffered a mild heart attack. The heart gets weaker with age and since your husband is having cancer and has been getting chemotherapy, some medications can also cause side effects on the heart. You should discuss his echocardiography findings and cardiac enzyme test report with the treating doctor. Please do not worry.