Unfortunately the coughing goes hand in hand with this as his lungs adjust to the new way of breathing. Normally our lungs produce over 500mls of mucous a day which we swallow without being aware of . Now of course it just all comes out of the stoma. I remember Kris coughing and sputum flying across the room! I then had to hunt it out to clean it up.
I hope Tony has been given HME filters to wear over his Stoma. These little filters do the job of the nose which is now bypassed in breathing. They filter , warm and humidify the air that is breathed through the Stoma . We have certainly found that they do help to reduce the amount of mucous and coughing. Otherwise he is breathing in cold ( not 37degrees C) dry air which is a huge irritant to the lungs. Hence more sputum production.
Certainly sputum production does lessen with time and becomes more manageable.
I think the most important thing in the long recovery is remaining positive and being involved in life. I would make Kris get out of the house by taking him for walks through a park or along the beach. We went to see a movie every week. Even though the coughing did disturb Kris I pretended not to notice which I think helped not draw attention to him.
Once he had fully mastered swallowing, I insisted he join me at Cafes where he would have a coffee.
After a few months Kris joined a gym and after a few sessions, he went alone. I was not needed anymore. As his confidence grew, so he became more independent and started going to the library by himself. The day he went to town armed just with his IPad and the Speakit app I was so proud.
Kris also used the nebuliser, at least 4-6 times daily and even now he uses it once or twice a day. It is an invaluable tool in helping to thin the mucous thereby making it easier to cough out. We even have a tiny portable nebuliser which fits in my handbag . We take this with us on our overseas trips. We have been to Australia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Have nebuliser and blender will travel.
Life of good. Tony and yours will be too.
Tammy