From left to right: Creswell, age 18, Creswell, age 46. On Aug. 7, 1997, Jennifer Creswell and her sister were driving when they were hit by a large truck, flipping their vehicle five times. Creswell was hospitalized with serious injuries and remained unconscious for five days, sustaining a fractured skull, short-term memory loss and near-total vision loss in her right eye. Despite these ailments, nothing prepared her for what she saw when she regained consciousness.
“When I finally woke up, I looked in the mirror and was horrified,” Creswell said.
Her reflection revealed that her right eye was stuck facing inward. She was later diagnosed with a rare form of strabismus, a condition in which one or both eyes deviate in different directions.
As her condition progressed, Creswell would often wake up with her right eye pointing outward. Throughout the day, it would slowly deviate inward toward her nose. During these “bad eye days,” as she described, she experienced migraines and visual fatigue.
After her diagnosis, Creswell remained determined to find a cure. For over 19 years, she sought help from three different providers. Each time, she was turned away. Recalling a consultation in 2016, Creswell says the doctor completely dismissed her.
“I couldn’t even finish explaining my situation before they shot me down,” Creswell said.
For the next eight years, Creswell adapted to her condition the best she could, often resorting to over-the-counter medications on her “bad eye days” to manage the side effects.
Rob Tauscher, M.D., and Creswell. In November 2024, Creswell contacted UAB Hospital Callahan Eye for a consultation and had her first appointment with Rob Tauscher, M.D., an adult strabismus specialist and assistant professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.
“I was mentally prepared to hear bad news,” Creswell said. “I made that appointment expecting yet another rejection.”
After decades of being turned down, she was thrilled to learn that Tauscher was prepared to help.
“Jennifer’s case was unusual, but I could see right away how much this condition had affected her life,” Tauscher said. “With the right surgical plan, I believed we had a real opportunity to improve her eye alignment and her quality of life.”
In January 2025, Tauscher performed a procedure to realign Creswell’s eye. After closely monitoring her recovery, he recommended a second surgery to further enhance the results.
“Her condition was rare, but I had confidence we could make a meaningful difference,” Tauscher said. “We tailored each step to give her the best possible outcome.”
Creswell returned for the second procedure in May and was thrilled with the results at her postoperative visit.
“The deviation in her right eye reduced significantly, and I was delighted to learn that her symptoms improved as well,” Tauscher said.
Now, after 28 years of uncertainty, Creswell feels renewed.
“Dr. Tauscher has given me my confidence back,” Creswell said. “It’s been a long and difficult journey — I will forever be grateful to him for taking my case.”