I'm writing this a few hours after seeing Dr. K., the oncology radiologist in Mount Vernon. I liked him and felt comforted by the fact that he had reviewed my chart and all of my background info before I came to see him (something I don't think Dr. J., the oncologist, had done). However, I'm feeling fairly devastated right now. Apparently, the results of my Oncotype DX test came in just last night (the $5,000 test that predicts risk of recurrence). Dr. K. asked me if Dr. J. (the oncologist) had gone over the test results with me yet. I said, "No, I've been calling to get the results, but had been told they weren't in yet." So he informed me that my test score was a "27," which is far higher than I had anticipated. What it means is that I have an 18% risk of distant recurrence (metasticized cancer) over the next 10 years. This percentage falls within the "intermediate" range and close to the top of it at that. Women with scores of 31 and higher are almost always given chemotherapy.