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Interesting, that you mentioned heart trouble. When one has congestive heart failure, one has edema (swelling from fluid retention) beginning in the feet and traveling up the legs. I know this because it is what my father had. When the heart gets old and/or tired it can no longer pump the fluids through the body fast enough and they begin to collect in the feet (gravity, don't you know). I can remember finals week at college. I was commuting 140 miles round trip each day. On the last day of finals I got up early to find my father sitting in his chair (as usual), and I felt that something was wrong. I asked him if he was ok, and he said he was fine, then told me to go and take my tests. I left him sitting there, my mind straining to remember all the things that would be on the final that day. I returned in the late afternoon and he was still sitting in the chair, exactly as I had left him. I again felt that something was wrong. He said it was hard for him to get up. I put my hand on his knee and nearly jumped out of my skin. I started to check him and found that he had edema, not just some swelling of the feet and ankles. NO. He was swollen up from his toes to his waist and could not move. I called an ambulance and had him taken to the hospital immediately. He was started on IV diuretics and x-rays taken. The doctor said his heart was just not pumping fast nor hard enough to circulate his fluids. So, they gave him heart meds as well. After 2 days in the hospital the swelling had gone down some and they took x-rays again as he was having trouble breathing. They discovered he had a collapsed lung which was masked by the swelling. Then they put a chest tube in to drain the lung. He was draining all over the place (sorry could not resist the laugh--actually he said it first).Eventually the fluid was drained and a new med schedule worked out and the lung reinflated. Wow, all on finals week. oh yes--I graduated. (sorry for the long winded story but I feel a little nostalgic) don't forget how to laugh (and do it often) Marling McReynolds [log in to unmask] http://members.tripod.com/~marling