My 84 year old dad sounds worse than a cat. Every morning he wakes up like he us coughing up a hairball.
he sounds like hes got constant phlem in his throat, im not sure how to describe it.he coughs a lot, especially in the mornings. his truck looks lerydayike you shook a snowglobe, dust, but not dust because its clean.( i know, it doesnt make sense, hard to explain) the house hadnt been cleaned in 20+ years, but ive got it clean now,.his bedroom used to look like volcanic ash every morning, after changing the carpets, its not bad, now i only have to clean furniture once a week, instead of everyday. when i moved in, i broke out with open sores, 2 biopsys later, it says bug bites. we just had the house fumigated and he is mad at me for inspecting all the food he carried around in his truck for 5 days.half the food had to be tossed.his beloved 25 lb bag of flour is full of black specks, hes mad i want to throw it out..im wondering if the cough and bugs are related? we have the 'flying dust' im convinced is bugs.is that why he coughs?
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He might also have allergies to dust mites (really their feces) which live on the dander and other particles. Try vacuuming all around the bed, under it, behind it. Pull out the mattresses and vacuum those too. Get a new mattress pad, sheets, pillows and cases, also replace or thoroughly wash blankets, especially wool blankets; dry cleaning would be the ideal thing for wool. Wash down walls, wash curtains and replace blinds with rolling shades - it's easier to dust one surface of the shade over of all those horizontal slats that are dust traps. Some people are allergic to the chemicals used in bug bombs or fumigation, it might be wise to wash all the surfaces - even table tops, cupboard doors, walls, etc... to get rid of any residual chemicals.
If there are more complex health issues involved - like emphysema - then the morning coughing is a normal pattern and will only get worse. he should visit a doctor to get inhalers or other treatments that will ease his breathing.
It sounds like you are doing a lot of good for him. Though he might not express it, you are doing the right thing. It's hard to deal with folks like this, they don't want to seem dependent or like they are loosing control. Don't try to do too much at once, do things gradually and always tell yourself - and HIM - that it's for his own safety. He can't argue with that - you want him to remain healthy and not suffer from food poisoning and you want to clean things so he can breath more easily.