A fortnight ago Leanne Smith planned her funeral, chose the colour of her coffin and the songs she wanted played.
But she's keeping the details a secret. ''There's a few surprises,'' was all she would say yesterday.
Mrs Smith (41) is dying of breast cancer, yet she remains upbeat and determined to enjoy whatever time she has left.
Despite always being on oxygen, she had created lists to make the most of each day.
''My husband said I can shop, so I go shopping. I get up with him at 6am and start my day ... I don't sit still, I just go from the minute I get up.''
Husband Michael Smith and stepsons Jayden (20), Thomas (18) and William (9) want her to rest but she says resting is a waste of time.
''There will be that day when I can't do it, so for now I push myself.''
Her two younger sisters, Deborah and Melanie, held a pink morning tea party for her yesterday.
The family were beyond shedding tears.
''We don't cry, we laugh - we've probably never laughed so much as a family.
"We don't take it lightly but it's not all doom and gloom. We have to make the most of every single day and that's what I've done.''
Mrs Smith was first diagnosed with the ''aggressive'' inflammatory breast cancer two years ago.
A fortnight earlier, she had seen her doctor because her left breast was larger than her right one.
''It was like somebody had blown it up like a balloon.''
Then followed 18 weeks of chemotherapy, five weeks of radiation and a double mastectomy.
''I thought it was gone and then in February this year, I got a cough.''
Several visits to the doctor revealed she had secondary breast cancer and lung cancer.
''I'm terminal and have weeks to live.''
In hindsight, she said she should have seen her doctor earlier.
''I waited at least six weeks before seeing the doctor because I assumed every day I took my bra off it would have gone down. For six weeks I waited, thinking tomorrow would have been different and it never was.''
There was no breast cancer in her family medical history and she was unaware swelling was a symptom.
The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation is raising awareness of the lesser-known symptoms of breast cancer.
Foundation chief executive Van Henderson said research revealed that the earlier breast cancer was detected, the better the outcome, so the foundation wanted women to know all the signs and symptoms.
The five lesser-known signs of breast cancer are changes in the skin of the breast, including dimpling, puckering or redness; a change in breast shape or size; unusual breast pain; a nipple discharge; or changes in the nipple, such as a turned-in nipple.
Most lumps and other symptoms were often not breast cancer but the foundation urged women to report any changes to their doctor.
Further information could be found on the foundation's website www.anychanges.co.nz.
Ms Henderson said $800,000 of research the foundation had committed to over the next two years included $100,000 to Dr Rhonda Rosengren at Otago University.
Dr Rosengren and her team are targeting triple negative cancers and hope to develop a low-cost nano-medicine to target triple negative tumour tissue.
If the initial project was successful, the foundation would commit up to another $100,000 for the next phase.
This research could lead to clinical trials in women in two to three years' time.
