Answer
Cells from breast cancer typically migrate to axillary lymph nodes by way of lymphatic vessels. To obviate this occurrence it is general surgical practice to the remove the axillary lymph nodes and associated lymphatic vessels of a patient who has had mastectomy (in simple mastectomy only the breast tissue is removed). This was the procedure followed in Mrs. Franco's case. In her case she was already experiencing metastases.
The postsurgical swelling in her right arm was due the dissection that removed some of the lymphatics that returned the extra ISF from her upper limb to her body. This disturbance of the lymphatic drainage of the right arm is responsible for the temporary accumulation of fluids and the swelling ( in her right arm).
Work Step by Step
The swelling can be treated with external pressure garments. The lymphatics will regrow.
