Neelix's Lungs

[Ro_Laren]

I was watching the episode Macrocosm today when Neelix got sprayed with the juices from one of the viruses. After a while Neelix started to feel some of the effects of the attack. After Janeway ran the tricorder over him she said he had a high fever and fluid in his lungs. After Janeway said he had fluid in his lungs, Neelix said the word "lung" as if correcting her. That got me thinking- wasn't there an episode from an earlier season where the Vidiians took his lungs or something? Does he only have one now? From that conversation between Janeway and Neelix he seemed to be implying that he had only one.

 

[Starseeker]

I believe the Vidiians took his lungs. The doctor hooked him up to holographic lungs for a little while. Then he implanted one of Kes's lungs.

The rest of the space in his chest? He keeps an overnight bag in there just in case. Always prepared, that Neelix.

 

[WalkinMan]

I wonder how Talaxian physiology keeps that Ocampan lung going strong, after all the life expectancy of Ocampans is some 7 years right?

 

[gastrof]

I wonder how Talaxian physiology keeps that Ocampan lung going strong, after all the life expectancy of Ocampans is some 7 years right?

Face it. The only reason Nelix moved to that Talaxian colony was so's to have compatible lung donors he knew he'd need in a year or two.

 

[exodus]

The episode was called "The Phage" and was the introduction of the Vidiians.(one of the best villains from the series,IMO)

Neelix was given a lung from Kes by the Vidiians to correct their mistake after stealing both of his and genetically altered her lung to match his physiology. In "Deadlock" the Vidiians mention Ocampian organs are highly adaptable.

 

[Ro_Laren]

So they can completely replace a heart or different limbs in the 24th Century, but not a lung? Perhaps Talaxian physiology is too complex for an artificial replacement, but not an Ocampan lung?

 

[Timo]

Well, the heart is just a pump - you could order one from a hardware store and plug it in, essentially. And limbs are just levers.

In contrast, the lung performs complex chemical functions; a simple set of bellows won't do. The EMH could always inject oxygen into Neelix' system, bypassing the lungs completely - but removing the carbon dioxide from his blood would be a more complex undertaking, and possibly not trivially doable with a machine.

IMHO stealing Neelix' lungs was a really good choice by the writers. Theft of the other irreplaceable organ with highly complex chemical functions, the Talaxian equivalent of liver, would not have had such immediate and dramatic effects. And theft of his brain would have been counterproductive in so many ways...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[exodus]

So they can completely replace a heart or different limbs in the 24th Century, but not a lung? Perhaps Talaxian physiology is too complex for an artificial replacement, but not an Ocampan lung?

Well, remember Talaxians are a new species for the Federation. Their biological make up isn't in our database. The Doctor is learning about Talaxians & Ocampa as he goes, just like a normal doctor.

It was the Vidiians that have the knowledge of those species. Combine that with their superior medical technology and they surpass what the EMH can do.

 

[Steven Of Nine]

In Macrocosm Neelix refers to his "lung" which he got from Kes, yes.

But even better, in Before & After, when Kes blows out her birthday candles, Neelix refers to HER only remaining lung, saying something like, "Glad to see the old lung's still working."

Nice touch of continuity, even though they later ignore all of Kes' activity in Year of Hell.

 

[exodus]

In Macrocosm Neelix refers to his "lung" which he got from Kes, yes.

But even better, in Before & After, when Kes blows out her birthday candles, Neelix refers to HER only remaining lung, saying something like, "Glad to see the old lung's still working."

Nice touch of continuity, even though they later ignore all of Kes' activity in Year of Hell.

That's because she never went thru "YOH".

 

[Ro_Laren]

^ But why didn't Kes warn Janeway to avoid the Krenim? She warned Janeway when she was jumping backward in time, but when everything was fixed (i.e. she wasn't travelling backward in time anymore) she decided not to tell the crew. Nice, eh? I'll throw your ship past Borg space, but I won't warn you of another evil foe just beyond the Borg.

 

[exodus]

^ But why didn't Kes warn Janeway to avoid the Krenim? She warned Janeway when she was jumping backward in time, but when everything was fixed (i.e. she wasn't travelling backward in time anymore) she decided not to tell the crew. Nice, eh? I'll throw your ship past Borg space, but I won't warn you of another evil foe just beyond the Borg.

Because she encountered Species 8472, she never "witnessed" Year of Hell to tell Janeway. So despite what we saw on screen, the timeline she witnessed got erased. That is why Seven discovers the temperal frequency of the Kernium torpedo instead of Kes. That was to show how that timeline changed.

Remember, inorder for Kes to time jump backwards she had to be exposed to the Krenuim radiation to begin with. So, not one single thing in "Before & After" has ever happened if she didn't.