Approximately 7 weeks ago I thought I would install a battery tender harness on the convenience battery of my sports car which happens to have 2 batteries, one in the engine compartment which controls starting the car, and one in the trunk which controls the electric roof, and electrical components of the car.

I am not a mechanic by any means, but I do minor wrenching around on my motorcycles and my cars from time to time. As a matter of fact, I have done some major modifications to some of my motorcycles. Probably the biggest modification I’ve done a motorcycle, was to add a 2^nd gas tank onto a Suzuki LC 1500 intruder which was an utter nightmare. I’m surprised that I did not blow the damn thing up at the time. Anyway, getting back to the debacle of the battery tender harness install….

So, I managed to get the battery tender harness hooked up to the convenience battery, but I dropped one of the nuts to the negative lead post into the spare tire wheel well. In order to get to it, I would have to lift the spare tire out. This car happens to be a Mercedes-Benz 500 SL which you can see in the picture above, with me sitting in it in Newport Beach, California.

Nobody told me that in order to lift the spare tire out, I was supposed to deflate the spare tire first. So, me, being me, a guy who has been lifting weights since I was a teenager, and a guy who most would consider to be a pretty strong guy, proceeds to start trying to lift the spare tire out of the trunk. I should have realized something was wrong when the spare tire did not lift straight out like it’s supposed to.

Rather than analyze the situation, which at this point I wish I would have, instead I lifted with my palms facing up with much more strength, the back end of the car started coming up, it was at this point that I felt a popping sensation in my left arm between my forearm and my bicep. I said to myself immediately “oh shit.” Immediately after saying that, the pain began.

Now of you know what it’s like when you kick something barefooted like a kitchen table or something and you dance around for a couple of minutes in agony, well the pain was so bad after I popped my arm out, that I danced around the driveway for about 15 minutes. The pain was excruciating.

At my age, 55 years old, I have practice martial arts for 50 years, played varsity football, pop warner football, ran track, played baseball, play basketball, threw the shot put in high school, wrestled in high school, was in the military, and have done bodybuilding much of my adult life. I have pretty much sustained all sorts of injuries all over my body.

This injury, i.e. popping something in my arm, was like nothing I have ever felt before. I knew something was seriously wrong. Stupid me, I still managed to get the spare tire out by letting the air out, I got the dam nut out of the wheel well, completed the installation, and got back into the house, but I was suffering.

Without going into the details, it took approximately 5 weeks to find out I had a partially torn bicep tendon, and I was scheduled to go in to surgery to repair it pretty quickly on the 6^th week. I was told that most people who have this type of tear can lead normal lives without the surgery, but they have to limit what they lift, the tendon can completely tear in the future, and there is permanent loss of strength in the arm for the rest of your life. I was unwilling to live as a cripple the rest of my life.

Good thing I chose to have surgery. My surgeon after the surgery told me that I can expect a full recovery, but that the tear was worse than he thought. He stated that the tendon was 70% torn and that had I not got the surgery there was a strong likelihood that the ligament would have torn completely with very little force in the future. There was so little of the tendon left attached, the he just decided to disconnect it totally, and reattach the entire tendon through an anchor in my forearm bone.

Here I am sitting using dictation software, exactly one week after the surgery, typing this article through the miracle of modern technology. My wife and I have done a ton of research on this injury since I was injured. It turns out that this is a common injury for men over 45. Usually the bicep tendon tears at the shoulder where it connects there, and not the elbow on the bottom part were mine tore.

The injury usually happens when a man lifts something that is heavy palm up. It is more common for men to sustain this injury then women. Since I sustained this injury, I have since found out a few of my friends have had the same injury, as well as some of my Facebook friends.

I have been told by my doctor that I will be in a splint and a brace for at least 3 months, and I will have to undergo physical therapy. Through my research, I have found out that the physical therapy is really painful for this particular injury. I am not looking forward to it. My surgeon told me I can expect a full recovery, and I should be able to lift the normal weights that I am used to.

At this point sitting here suffering, waiting to go to the doctor for my post operation appointment to get the cast off and to look at the wound to make sure it is healing correctly, although what I am really worried about right now is just getting the damn cast off so I can scratch my skin.

I will tell you what, a major decision in getting the surgery was the fear of not being able to ride motorcycles anymore. Had I not got this surgery, my bicep tendon could have ruptured completely at any time by pushing or pulling on a motorcycle while parking, or even riding it.

My doctor told my wife and I that we will be able to go to Sturgis this year which is basically in 4 months and I am looking forward to it.

So, to all of my readers out there and to all of you, if there is any lesson to be learned here, is be careful lifting heavy things if you are not in shape, especially with your palms up. Ask for help if you need to. Otherwise you could tear your bicep tendon and be stuck like me with only the use of one arm for about 3 months.

By California motorcycle accident lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez, March 27, 2019