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You have had one or more lymph nodes near your aorta removed.

Fluid forms in tissue throughout the body every day. This tissue fluid is the lymph. The lymph is carried around the body by lymph vessels. The lymph vessels run around the entire body and are connected to blood vessels. At some points, there are lymph nodes along the lymph vessels. Pathogens are rendered harmless in the lymph nodes, for example. Lymph nodes are small, bean-shaped structures. They are part of the body’s defense system.

The aorta begins at the heart itself. First it runs upwards and then it arches down through the chest to the abdomen. At around the level of the navel, the aorta branches into 2 large blood vessels. These blood vessels first run to the pelvis and then to the legs.

You have had your lymph nodes surgically removed. To do this, your skin was cut open.