And even though she "retired" in 2008 as a Registered Nurse, with certifications in Oncology, Cardiology, and Critical Care; some might be surprised to learn that she keeps all her certifications current, and essentially acts as a Patient Advocate for her friends and relatives; and sometimes friends of friends; and sometimes even friends of friends of friends. (Work that often has her researching medical books late at night, and work that is emotionally as well as physically exhausting.) (Work that if performed for revenue would easily pay in excess of $300 per hour)

In all her dialogues with those who seek her medical advice, she is careful to point out that she is not a doctor, but the fact is that her advice is always 100% on target, and there have even been occasions where she has become aware of some doctor’s advice or some doctor’s potential actions that could be harmful to a patient. And got these activities stopped.

From 1978 to 1988 Joyce worked as the Head Nurse on 3 Main in what was then called University Community Hospital on Fletcher Avenue near the University of South Florida.

The unit had about 16 patient rooms and could hold around 30 people total. At the time, the unit was called MICU, standing for Medical Intensive Care Unit, which was the step down ward of the hospital's ICU.

Joyce's superior was called the Clinical Manager, and this person essentially looked after a number of units and spent her time checking on these units, communicating with peers and higher management, and attending hospital meetings. The Clinical Manager did not spend much time in 3 Main; she did not have to; Joyce ran the unit very well and her staff was exceedingly loyal.

Two of Joyce's many successes were getting telemetry in all of her rooms, and changing the white nurses' uniform that was required wearing, to scrubs, which were much easier to maintain and did not show stains as much as the whites.

Early on in her time at UCH, Joyce found the need to fill the position of unit secretary. At the time Margaret Chester was a secretary for one of one of the other UCH units, and Joyce selected her to fill the position. Margaret made it pretty clear that they were many things about an intensive care unit that she just did not understand and had no experience with. Joyce assured her that she would be soon trained and competent in all her new responsibilities.

And it was not long before Joyce and Chester - what Joyce called her - were a great team. Chester even took Telemetry Training and learned to read the monitors to backup the Tech when the Tech was away. (She was even the main planner for Joyce's wedding to Dr. Federico Pollicina, a cardiologist practicing at UCH.)

So the friendship has continued through the years, and there are many yet untold stories about their hospital and life experiences together.

Currently they have worked to get back together more often, usually by "doing lunch" at a mutually agreed upon establishment.

On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a home game against the Chicago Bears. Chester had two tickets that she and her husband had purchased many years ago, and she invited Joyce to join her for the game. Wow, you would have thought Joyce hit the Lotto Jackpot! She was so excited. (Note that Joyce and her husband then, Dr. Federico Pollicina, had attended the 2003 Super Bowl in San Diego where the Bucs defeated Oakland Raiders by the score of 48-21.)

Going into the game that Joyce and chester would be watching, the Bucs were 1-0 and the Bears were 0-1, but the Bears were favored. Afterall, the Bucs had to be going down down down with the loss of the G.O.A.T: Tom Bradley.