Any nurses, paramedics or doctors in the house? Question about ...

About 2.5 years ago, I ended up in the hospital with congestive heart failure, a heart attack and atrial fibrillation (which apparently had been going on for some time). When I entered the hospital via the ER, my heart was pumping just south of 20% of capacity and I could barely breathe because I had retained so much fluid in my lungs. After my two-week stay, it was pumping close to 30% and has remained about the same ever since. The cardiologists performed a cardioversion 11 times without any success and decided against ablation and a pacemaker for fear that I would not survive the surgery. I went home with a ton of medications, most notably Tikosyn which by itself can kill you. After about a year, the cardiologists discontinued the aforementioned med because they felt that, if it were going to convert my heart to sinus rhythm, it would have done it by then. All the other meds have stayed the same and for the most part, so have I. That is, I've never truly "recovered" because my heart's pumping capacity remains in the 25% to 30% range. I have good and bad days and generally have learned to live with afib.

Prior to going to the hospital, I never noticed any swelling in my legs and/or feet, though the cardiologist remarked on it a few times. For the last couple months, if I am standing or sitting in a standard upright chair (meaning feet on the floor), my legs blow up like balloons from the knees to the toes. Some days or worse than others and the only way to prevent the swelling and/or get rid of it is to sit in a chair with my feet propped up to about heart level or to recline or lie in bed. Today, though, seemed especially bad. I had been working about my desk for about six hours and as the day wore on, I could feel legs "filling up." I did get up and down a few times to stretch, use the restroom, get a drink and so on. When I finally called it a day, I went to change into pajamas and noticed that my legs from the top of my socks to my knees had turned yellow -- the kind of yellow you see when a black-and-blue bruise is healing. After I reclined in a chair for about four hours, my legs were no longer so swollen and the discoloration was no longer visible.

So, what happened? Why am I swelling so badly and what's with the yellow coloring?