Bob and Laurie,
The hospital prescirbed me the Yankauer suction machine and I kept it by my easy chair during the day and by the bedside at night, and it was much better than constantly spitting into tissues. As everyone said, the thick mucous does stop flowing eventually. That is the good news. The bad news is that just about the time that the mucous stops waking you up at night, the dry mouth begins waking you up at night. Oh well, just the price that we pay.
Hang in there...things will get better, it just requires patience.

Regards,
Danny G.