A memoir by Francisco B. Sousa

A body in pain.
A life put on hold.
A way back.

For almost ten years, chronic back pain consumed my life. This is the story of my long search for solutions, and eventual wholesale recovery.

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Cover of The Lost Decade by Francisco B. Sousa
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About the book

Not a miracle cure.
A long search for a life again.

In 65 concise pages, The Lost Decade takes you inside my everyday life as a 26- to 34-year-old chronic back pain sufferer.

Experience the highs and lows of my journey through short-lived improvements, false starts, stops, and, for a time, losing all hope.

Chronic pain did not destroy my life in one dramatic moment. It gradually narrowed it, as more and more ordinary movements — sitting, bending forward, picking things up from the floor, lying in bed — became sources of pain.

This is the story of how I moved from strength and confidence into injury, fear and withdrawal; how surgery briefly seemed like an exit; and how recovery eventually emerged through a combination of education, graded exposure, sleep, strength, movement and a changed relationship with pain.

It is a personal account, not a prescription. Its purpose is to offer honesty, perspective and hope to people whose worlds have shrunk.

What early readers are saying

“An amazing effort—very inspiring in its consistency and grit, and genuinely moving at times.”
Manuel Sousa
“An incredible and compelling read. I couldn’t put it down.”
Daniel Howard
“That’s the thing about chronic pain: it doesn’t destroy you all at once. It chips away at you in small defeats.”
— The Lost Decade

My story

Years spent looking for the one thing that would fix everything.

I went from powerlifting and five-hour walking tours to organising my days around avoiding discomfort. I underwent a partial laminectomy and discectomy, recovered, relapsed on a ski trip, consulted specialist after specialist, and nearly submitted to spinal fusion.

The turning point was not a single treatment. It was learning to stop treating my body as fragile, to rebuild capacity patiently, and to re-enter the life I had been avoiding.

Get the free Companion Guide →
Francisco B. Sousa kayaking inside a sea cave

Meet the Author

Hi, I'm Francisco.

In my mid-twenties, a herniated L5-S1 disc and the years that followed completely changed my life.

For almost a decade, I searched for a solution—through surgery, physiotherapy, medications, books, and countless recovery protocols.

Eventually I found one.

The Lost Decade is the story of that search.

Cover of The Lost Decade Companion Guide by Francisco B. Sousa

Free Companion Guide

Learn what finally helped me recover after eight years of chronic back pain.

Everything I wish I'd known eight years earlier.

I spent years trying physiotherapy, surgery, medications, and countless recovery protocols before I finally began making lasting progress.

In this free Companion Guide you'll discover:

  • The mindset shifts that changed my recovery
  • The practical habits that finally worked for me
  • A visual timeline of my entire journey—from injury to getting my life back

You'll also receive one low back recovery related email every month. Unsubscribe anytime.

The Lost Decade

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Contact

Readers, podcasts and media enquiries.

For interviews, podcast invitations, advance-reader enquiries or messages about the book:

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