Ayu Kembarati: Indonesian Cancer Survivor Who Dedicates Her Life to Community in Australia

By: Wipsar Aswi Dina Tri Andari

KOMPAS.com – Life may turn her upside down. But, knowing that life is a gift, cancer survivor Ayu Kembarati, an Indonesian living in Australia, always wants to help others and tries her best to change a negative situation into a positive one when dealing with adversity.

The 54-year-old woman from Bali, Indonesia came to Darwin, Northern Territory (NT), Australia in 1998 fresh after her wedding. To her friends, Ayu is known as a person who has a bright smile and wears her heart on her sleeve.

In Darwin, Ayu and her then-husband started their new life from zero. They ran a garment business. Meeting people along the way between Darwin and Alice Springs route, slowly but surely, they picked up loyal customers. Soon their business grew and it expanded selling furniture and handicraft in a gallery.

However, her situation at home was completely unexpected. This was when she found out that her firstborn was diagnosed with autism. For Ayu, the word ‘autism’ was unheard of. When she asked her husband what autism was, he replied, “Go watch Rain Man.” The husband was referring to a Hollywood movie with an autistic character. Soon after, she was devastated.

Between her journey for acceptance and her courage to find the best care for her child, things turned out to be more complicated. In 2011, she became a single parent. Then a few years later, the mother of three discovered that she had stage two breast cancer when her children were still in primary school.

For three months, she said that she broke down, realizing that she might not have the chance to see her children grow up. However, she thought that she must be strong and face her problems head-on to precisely answer her worst fear: she wanted to be alive for her children.

Diligently she underwent a breast lift operation in 2016 and weathered through every session of her four full cycles of chemotherapy. She then endured 25 days of radiation therapies and finally was put on hormonal treatment for five years.

She remembered fondly how she still cooked, cleaned, and did laundry even just after receiving a chemo session. “If not me, then who would do it?” she recalled.
“Even when I lie down on the bed it hurts, so I would rather walk and do things to forget the pain.”

Her unwell condition made it difficult to do her hobby: exercising. “When I did the chemo, I could not go to the gym. My body was full of chemicals, so if I sweat, I would release these chemicals. And it’s dangerous to others.”

So, she opted to walk her dogs instead. Assisted by her twin sister Gusti, who was in charge of dropping off and picking up her children to and from school, she tried her hardest to return her life to normalcy.

Now, in 2021 her personality and life are shining brightly than ever. January 2021 she was declared cancer-free but will still stick to her hormonal therapy for the next five years ahead.She opted to willingly commit to the hormonal therapy since she does not feel any side effects from the therapy.