Patting the Shark

by Tim Baker

A surfer's journey learning to live well with cancer

Tim Baker was living the dream. A best-selling and award-winning surf writer with a beautiful family, a lifetime of exotic travel and a home walking distance to quality waves.
That all changed on July 7, 2015, when he was diagnosed, out of the blue, with stage 4, metastatic prostate cancer. So began a descent into the debilitating world of aggressive cancer treatments and a fight for a survival as brutal as any big wave hold down.

Tim writes candidly and with a raw vulnerability about this perilous journey through chemotherapy, hormone therapy, radiation and surgery, and his own determined lifestyle strategies to maintain mind, body and spirit. Happily, surfing provided one of his most powerful forms of therapy, and writing about his experiences has proven deeply cathartic.

In 2020, 1.5 million men were diagnosed with prostate cancer globally and 375,000 lost their lives. In Australia, one in seven men will develop prostate cancer. Yet mainstream oncology concedes its ability to keep men with prostate cancer alive has outstripped its ability to manage the often-devastating side effects of treatment. Men with prostate cancer are living longer but with a steadily declining quality of life.

Patting The Shark documents Tim's efforts to navigate his way through the maze of conventional and supportive therapies - meditation, diet, exercise, emotional support, counselling. Ultimately, it is a desperate plea for a more integrative approach to cancer care, treating the whole person and not just the cancer, allowing cancer patients a sense of empowerment and agency in charting their path through treatment.

This is a story about facing your mortality, staring down your fears, and working out what really matters in life, when so many elements of your identity are stripped away. It offers hope, comfort and empathy for anyone facing a cancer diagnosis and their loved ones

Genres: Nonfiction

366 pages, Trade Paperback

First published August 2, 2022

Reviews

[Tracy Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time I've ever cried reading the Acknowledgements
Thanks Tim As a clinician working in the Prostate Cancer field and a devotee of a WFPB and Yogic lifestyle this book resonated with me on so many levels

[Lauren Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting to read someone’s combining of conventional and integrative/ holistic ‘treatment’ for cancer, particularly for my work. I liked that the author held the line of ‘conventional is very important, but also things like sleep/ eating/ exercise probably also make a difference, and should be researched further’, which I agree with.

I did have moments of finding it a bit boring or dragging on, or maybe that’s because I don’t have much interest in surfing and the lingo, but still important reading. It did, however, leave me wondering more about the perspective of his wife and children, as it did sort of read like ‘this is what I need to do for myself because I have cancer and everything/ everyone else comes second’.

[Madelaine Dickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Audible edition is brilliant. Tim does a beaut job with exactly the right intonation. My husband has been crying while we listen (he hasn’t wept since our son was born) and I find myself palming away hot tears regularly. But it's really, really funny, too. The humour is uniquely Australian and has given rise to belly laughs in every chapter. This is a brilliant, important book. In every chapter are very deep truths about what it means to be human. Can't recommend it highly enough. Thank you Tim.

[Nick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Patting the shark details the experiences of the author as he deals with advanced prostate cancer. This is the interesting part, as he undergoes hormone treatment and chemo. When the work begins to delve into the alternative areas of cannabis oils, mushrooms, mind medicine and microdosing, I began tuning out. I skimmed the final third.

[Susan C · Rating 4 out of 5]

The trouble with reading a memoir, is that the author is putting his or her life out there. His or her actions are open to be judged rightly or wrongly, so its a bit of a challenge as to what to say.

Tim Baker has stage 4 prostrate cancer. This is the kind which basically wants to kill him, sometime in the more immediate future. The book covers his journey from the time of his diagnosis to the point in time more recently that he hit send on his manuscript to his editor. Tim is open on the effects the treatment he is receiving to keep the cancer at bay in the hope of extending his life to at least the five years of his predictictive lifespan but preferably longer. I don't think its a spoiler to say that he has lived longer than predicted, in fact you could say he has lived! In the usual sense of how we live our lives.

It hasn't been easy for him. Prostate cancer in young men is harder than the same cancer affecting old guys. Or is it? What is clear that Tim is an advocate for complementary medicine to work along side conventional treatment of cancer. In no way is he saying, don't have the chemo, or don't have the ADT, despite the effects it has on him. He shows the importance of having a support team around him and being prepared to put in 'hard yards' sometimes referred to as taking his MEDS - Meditation, Exercise, Diet, and Sleep.

The trouble I had with his story is that at times he came across as a bit of an wanker, putting all his needs above those of this core supporters - his immediate family, and not recognising that they were hurting too. I was pleased to see in a later chapter he recognised that problem. Krist, his wife, sounds like a wonderful woman but boy was she coping with a lot - financially, emotionally, etc etc.

There were a couple of other issues that were discordant with me. Mainly that while he was advocating for holistic services to be available to the newly diagnosed cancer sufferer at the point of getting the news, he was lucky to be able to build his own team simply due to the contacts he and his wife had, such an incredible privilege for him considering that many men in that situation don't have that. I wholly agree with creating a holistic framework but was disappointed that Tim did not see just how lucky he was.

I wish Tim good health.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Husband actually read this one, but he doesn't have a GR account (doesn't read enough to warrant creating one).

He actually read it for the medical issues, and wasn't as enthused with the personal, though he read most of that as well.

He thought it was very down to earth and Tim Baker got the tone of the surgery & procedures spot on.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve passed halfway in the book.
I am 12 months passed my treatment ( android deprivation therapy and radio therapy) and a mate gave this book to read. A bit late but still informative. I’ve heard most of the stuff before but if you are about to go into cancer treatment regardless of age or type of cancer this is a darn good way to learn what goes on and it’s honest.

[Sarah Binks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great memoir prompted by reading an article on Tim Baker in the Weekend Australian. He lays everything bare about his diagnosis of stage 4 prostate cancer in his 50s and describes his relationship with primary health carers and an integrative approach. Fascinating

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written with a couple of repetitions, not edited out. As the writer says it is not a self-help book but it is informative and interesting in a way that other survivor books are not. Quite funny at times and deeply sad at others. The love of surfing shines through.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Diane Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

One man's journey is never the same as another's but it was good to get his perspective on prostate cancer.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably 3.5 stars but rounded up wishing Tim all the best

[Ada · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Why am I listening to a book about a bloke with prostate cancer?” I asked myself in the first couple of chapters of this book. But a good friend had recommended it, so I persevered. And I’m glad I did. This book isn’t just about a journey through dealing with a cancer diagnosis, although it is that too…it is about much more and I felt so positive and empowered from Baker’s story. I’m not a cancer patient but have faced other big health challenges, and the messages in this book really helped me. The fact that Baker really knows how to write adds to the enjoyment. Highly recommend.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim’s passion for life shines through this brave memoir of his struggles with prostrate cancer. I enjoyed how he constructed the narrative weaving his cancer journey and the analogy of the shark attack. It should be a must read for men over 50. Tim’s lifetime of writing equips him with a great turn of phrase, making for enjoyable reading of what could be hard slog, medical focused subject matter. His balance of conventional treatments and so called ‘alternative’ therapies was a revelation to me. (one year into my own cancer journey) So the big take away for men must be to have regular checks to enable early detection, wherein the journey is nothing as rigorous or devastating as what Tim has endured. All credit to you Tim, may you surf many more waves into old age.

[Darja]

The only problem with this book is that it should have been written sooner. This is a wonderful book, a guidance for everyone who at some point in their lives had to deal with cancer - not only for cancer patients, but also for their caregivers. If I knew all of this before, I could have stand by my mother in so many different ways, and encourage her to try the alternatives that would at least make her feel better, if not heal her. Use this book wisely, but do use it.