He should go to urgent care ASAP. His heart is failing to pump blood effectively and his kidneys are not getting enough blood to help with the overabundance of water...NOTE: this is just my uneducated guess. I'm not a doctor or a nurse) The condition of swollen ankles and legs means the heart is not pumping efficiently . It means he probably is in constant or persistent arrhythmia which will benefit from an earlier cardioversion or else an anti-arrhythmia drug like flecainide, Sotalol, Multaq, or amiodarone....maybe just propafenone. He needs help, and so do you. Go to Emerg.