The Injured Athlete's Oath

I see the doctor again tomorrow.

Up until last night I was fairly convinced that he wouldn't clear me for contact.  Things that hurt include duck walk runs and sudden, violent movements in my left leg in general.  It hurts MUCH less than it did, but it still hurts.  Kneeling on a hard surface is pretty uncomfortable too.
However...
My primary concern has been with falling so I finally decided to test it a little just so I could give the doctor an idea of where we were with that.  I put on all my knee pads and newly purchased gaskets and got into a kneeling position.  No pain.  I did a little bounce.  No pain.  I stood up and did a one knee fall.  No pain.  I tried again a little harder.  No pain.  I was starting to get a little excited so I put on my skates and was about to start falling again before I considered the degree to which I would feel like an idiot if I broke my arm in my living room because I was practicing falls without wearing all my gear.  After donning my helmet and wrist guards I tried again with the knee falls, this time culminating in a hard slam double knee fall from my skates onto the wooden floor.  No pain. 
That coupled with the assurance from my PT that the full range of motion has been restored in the injured knee has given me hope that I might be healthy in time for this draft after all.  Hot on the heels of that realization lies the temptation to paint a somewhat rosier picture of my condition than reality suggests. 
Of course, one might question whether my opinion even matters.  The doctor knows what's best right?  Maybe, maybe not.  After all, doctors are not imbued with superhuman powers nor are they exempt from the manner in which we all interact as humans.  If I walk in with an underlying belief that I'm not OK, I can guarantee you he won't clear me.  If I assure him that it's fine I'm sure he'll sign the release form in a heartbeat.  At my core what I want is to push the envelope exactly as far as is prudent, but no further.  While it would suck to be ineligible for this draft because of the injury, it would be worse to re-injure it immediately before draft, causing me to be ineligible AND lose more skating time in recovery.
And so we have the injured athletes oath:
I do hereby solomnly swear that I will be cognizant as to my own level of pain so that I may accurately describe it.  I swear to be honest, but not overzealous in my description.  I will have a full accounting of which actions or inactions cause pain.  I will listen intently and ask questions.
Wish me luck!
<posted on 4.20.12>