hijacked!

Yesterday, I had an appointment to give whole blood.
Instead, I found myself lashed to this machine for the next 90 minutes or so. That wouldn't have been so bad, but the blasted thing was such a taskmaster!
BEEP! Squeeze the ball repeatedly!
BEEP! Stop squeezing the ball!
Over and over and over...
I was pretty exhausted afterward.
I don't think giving plasma is going to work for me.
That's a shame, because the American Red Cross really needs plasma donors and my plasma is very healthy.

Once upon a time, when I was younger and in the U.S. Navy, I participated in plasmapheresis on a regular basis. The method used two needles, one in each arm. Blood would be removed from the one arm, centrifuged to separate the plasma from the red blood cells, and then the red blood cells would be returned to my body via the other arm. As I recall, the whole process took about an hour.
What I recall most is the metal taste in my mouth from the anticoagulant.
The new technique uses this machine and a single needle. That's right: the blood goes in and is returned at the same site in the arm.
Small amounts of blood are drawn into the machine and the components are separated. Then some of those components are returned and the cycle repeats. Because only small quantities are involved, it takes a while to complete the donation. Typically, the time required is about two hours, or long enough to watch a movie.
The donation of whole blood typically requires only about ten minutes. That's all the time needed to drain a pint of blood from a human body, with gravity being lightly aided by mild fist pumping.

I'll give it some thought, but... I think whole blood donation is going to be best for me.