Good advice, I'm on it. Now all I need to do is navigate the medical bureaucracy. My primary care doctor has quit, and none of the other doctors are accepting new patients.

You're right about the myriad causes of swelling ankles, which include:

• heart valve problem
• high blood pressure
• diabetes
• low protein levels
• deep venous thrombosis
• severe lung disease
• congestive heart failure
• varicose veins
• liver disease
• kidney failure
• obesity
• pregnancy
• dehydration

I can cross out obesity and pregnancy, so that's a relief.