Thanks for the kind words fellas.
Jay - the five week recovery of "no heavy lifting" was meant for me. I've been body building for roughly 30 years. He told me I could go back to work as soon as I get off the pain meds, but to just take it easy. You are a mechanic right? That would be tough. You wouldn't be able to wrestle tires around or swing a 5# hammer when replacing ball joints. But one thing to keep in mind, is that the recovery for surgery is even longer. The best option is to simply take care of yourself and when you start feeling pain in the elbow tendons, go see a doctor. This is not an injury that you can just work through.
Dean - I am insatiably determined (stubborn). 'No pain, no gain' and 'stop being a pussy' were my motto's for decades. It worked mostly, but with tendons, it just makes the injury worse to try and push through it. Between heavy lifting in the gym, over doing it at work when I was wrenching and building things (not asking for help moving things), and thinking I was invincible is what got me here. Prior to my decline three years ago, I would pyramid up to 405 on flat bench (four reps) and work up to 75 pound dumbbell curls. For your reference, I'm 5'10" and weighed 205 with a pretty low body fat less then 8. So as you continue to put on weight and get stronger in your own routine (as you undoubtedly will), make sure you warm up with plenty of light reps first, avoid max reps of less than 3, and when you start feeling pain from the weight, stop! You can tell the difference between tendons and muscle. In my case, I felt the pain, but didn't pay attention to it until it got too bad. Another thing that probably contributed to my injury is that I would never do forearm workouts. I figured that with my day to day life of working with my hands, and all the other griping exercises I was doing, I didn't need to work forearms. I now see that was a mistake. If you at least do over and under wrist curls, you will work the tendons and make them stronger. Just make sure to stretch on the negative.
