My mom was sent home with a suction machine we had to rent from the medical supply store. she coughed up a lot of mucous and all kinds of weird stuff for a couple of weeks after coming home. it became very scary at one point in the middle of the night and i had to put the suction tube down her trach all by myself. im not good at that!!! sounds like your dad isnt dealing at that level so hopefully the rinses will help