On August 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.
Creswell, age 18, after the car accident“When I finally woke up, I looked in the mirror and was horrified,” Creswell recalled. Her reflection revealed that her right eye was stuck looking 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, every other day she would wake up with her right eye pointing outward. Throughout the day, it would slowly deviate inward towards her nose. During these “bad eye days,” as described by Creswell, she experienced migraines and visual fatigue.
Since her diagnosis, Creswell remained determined to find a cure, seeking help from three different providers over 19 years. Each time, she was turned away. “I couldn’t even finish explaining my situation before they shot me down,” she said, recalling a consultation in 2016. “The doctor completely dismissed me.”
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. In November 2024, Creswell contacted UAB Callahan Eye for another consultation and had her first appointment with Rob Tauscher, M.D., an adult strabismus specialist at UAB Callahan Eye.
“I was mentally prepared to hear bad news,” Creswell recalled. “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,” said Tauscher. “With the right surgical plan, I believed we had a real opportunity to improve not just her eye alignment, but her quality of life.”
Creswell, age 46, after the second procedureIn 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,” he 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,” said Tauscher.
Now, after 28 years of uncertainty, Creswell feels renewed. “Dr. Tauscher has given me my confidence back,” she said. “It’s been a long and difficult journey — I will forever be grateful to him for taking my case.”
At UAB Callahan Eye, complex cases like Creswell’s are met with experience, compassion and dedication to finding solutions that change lives. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Tauscher or any of our ophthalmologists or optometrists, call or text 844-UAB-EYES.