YES, I definitely used a suction machine thanks to a kind nurse who got me started on one at the hospital, and then a hospital social worker who set up a home delivery of one. It was a BIG blessing and I'd urge you to get one ASAP. Call the cancer floor on the hospital where the treatments are being given and ask the nurses for help getting one. Insurance covered the charges. That same social worker helped me get home delivery of the feeding tube food and got insurance to pay for it. (Much better than the cancer dietican who told me incorrectly that insurance wouldn't pay.) I know exactly what your mom is going through, I did the very same thing myself. I'd sleep on a cot in the living room so as to not wake up my husband with my constant gagging, spitting, and coughing. Once I got the suction machine I could at least get most of it out without gagging so much that I would throw up. Before the suction, throwing up was a regular occurence. RUN OUT and get one ASAP. I wish I'd had it sooner.