I’m feeling really bummed. Arthritis in left finger (pointer) has gotten so bad it needs fusing. Once done it will mean 3 months of no whistle playing. I told him that the last fusion, other hand, had me out of playing for only four weeks. Apparently this one is a lot worse and I put off having it looked at for too long. Heck it was only three years.
Someone on the recorder board suggested a tabor pipe. I’ve never seen one before (I did google them though). Would that be a reasonable alternative? Surgery isn’t till closer to summer but I’m planning ahead.
tape the hole shut. it’s only one note 
Will you be able to use the bottom three fingers? Just tried it, and it seems very doable.
I’ve met whistlers with fingers missing or disabled who were great players.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Just wondering that myself, when my righ index finger was done I couldn’t.
I feel for you. I’m a big giant worrier and one of the things I worry about needlessly (at the moment) is which instrument I would play if something happened to some part of me. The harmonica is pretty friendly to playing without full use of your fingers.
But I would really like to suggest is learning to play the 4 hole (actually 6 hole) ocarina and just using your middle finger and ring finger rather than your pointer and middle finger. The fingering on a 4 hole ocarina is a bit different, so I don’t think you’ll be messing with any of your finger memory.
My family has a tradition of getting a person a present of their choice when they have major surgery. I don’t think you mentioned if surgery was involved but I do believe that receiving a present should be involved. I can’t wait for my next surgery (please let something happen to me already), I’m either going to ask for a bowed psaltery or if I’m going to have to start walking with a cane, one of those walking sticks with a built in flute. I don’t know yet. (Heart surgery is what brought me to the world of whistles and flutes and stuff.)
Slightly off topic, but it might help …
I made a high “A” whistle, just for fun, it works, but it’s too small for my fingers UNLESS I use the 2nd 3rd and 4th finger of each hand instead of the normal configuration. With a little practice I can hack a tune out of it. If I needed to, as in losing the use of an index finger, I reckon I could live with it … the fingering that is, the high “A” whistle is a little shrill for regular use 
Good Luck
To respond to the OP, a tabor pipe could be an option. It’s played with only one hand (your choice). The down side is that most of the easily available ones (Susato, Generation) can be pretty high pitched.
Ralph Sweet’s sale page has a wooden version http://www.sweetheartflute.com/SaleItems.html I have one of Ralph’s in the same key and don’t find it uncomfortable (sonically or otherwise) at all.
Check YouTube for Tabor Pipe and you’ll get to see a bunch. Here’s one for a starter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ichhY80zNyM&feature=related
Best wishes.
Steve
I know what you mean..my mother used to call it “borrowing trouble”
Another idea to ponder, thank you.
Surgery is involved. I like your traditions but would rather not have anymore “procedures” 
BTW..nice quote in your sig, best line in the whole song
Assuming you play with the left hand on top, I can think of several solutions / workarounds.
Jerry’s is one. That can certainly work.
Denny’s is also one, with a slight adjustment. Namely, the “whistle capo” fingering. Cover the top 2 holes of the whistle with T2 and T3. Then use your right hand fingers B1 to B4 to cover the rest. This shifts your entire grip up by one hole. Your bottom pinkie covers the last hole. And the top left finger covers … nothing. It just sits on the tube covering an “imaginary” hole.
Now just play the whistle as if it were a C recorder, with an F-nat in the scale instead of F#. Start with C fingering @xx xxxx (where @ is the covered pseudo-hole). When you get to B fingering @oo oooo jump to the second register with @xx xxxx again. Voilà. Since the top finger is not actually covering a hole, it never has to move.
To play F# fingering just half-hole it as: @xx cxxx (where c = half hole). Or in the 2nd octave cross-finger it as: @xx oxxo.
Because of hole spacing, the “whistle capo” does work best for most people with smaller whistles, D and above. And be aware that you’ve transposed everything up a full step, so that a D whistle now plays in E, etc. Which is, of course, the reason to use the “whistle capo” in the first place.
Here’s another. I know nothing about joint fusion. But if you retain motion of your main metacarpal joint (big knuckle between finger and hand), I don’t see why you can’t continue to play normally IF … and big IF … IF you play flat-fingered as you should.
When I play whistle, my finger joints hardly move at all. Almost all the motion comes from the big knuckle. The fingers act as little straight levers with the big knuckle as the fulcrum.
If you find you finger still wants to curl, try using top hand piper’s grip to keep your fingers flat (yes, this can be done even on high D whistle). Or use semi-piper’s grip, sealing the holes with the middle joints of all three top fingers. Use a whistle strap if you need to take pressure off the top thumb or even to play with the thumb completely off the whistle for better finger position.
One way or other, you might find one of these approaches allows you to keep playing. And of course, as with all medical procedures, check with your doctor to make sure your playing will not interfere with the healing process.
Tabor pipe? Sure, why not. Generation makes an inexpensive tabor pipe in D - basically a Gen D with 3 holes. Could be fun for you to play with and learn the overtone scales.
A fusion is a fusion-- how bad the joint is should have no effect on how long it takes to heal (assuming they’re not doing other things also).
You don’t need to buy a tabor pipe-- simply cover the top three holes of a metal or plastic *whistle with tape.
Ignore the low register entirely. Play the first four notes of the second octave- d,e,f#,g as usual. Now, put all fingers back down and overblow even harder. This will put you up into the overtone octave that Guru mentioned. The note with all fingers down will be a. By removing one finger at a time you can play a, b,c#, d. In this way you get one full octave, fingered with only one hand.
*I don’t recommend this on a wooden whistle, as the tape can harm the finish
Jerry Freeman makes a very good point. Pipemaker Hamish Moore had a problem playing due to a knackered finger but relearned missing out that finger. Playing both I would say it would be much easier to do on whistle than on pipes. As I’ve said on low whistle threads before, I play using my pinky for the bottom hole which was relatively easy to learn and eliminates the stretch issue.
Check out Hamishs’ fingering in this clip, he’s playing a D set but even with the bigger and more common A pipes it still would work the same…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnE0CpdZmDk
I am not sure if I understand your problem fully so correct me if I haven’t.
If your problem is that while you are healing you cannot use your left index finger then, providing you can cover the top hole with it and just keep it there you will be able to use this period to hone your music with many many ITM pieces that are, at least hexatonic and omit the C# (and C) altogether. Of course you wont be able to practice C# “grace notes” or practise rolls for B but that would be easy enough to catch up on when you are healed. In the mean time you could emphasise cuts for B and A instead which could, perhaps, give your playing a Cape Breton touch (I believe).
Thank you all for the suggestions, i will be exploring them as the time draws closer. For the first six weeks or so my left hand will not be usable due to casting. After that it will only be the index finger out of commision. I have been through this with my right hand in 1999, but the fusion required less bone remodeling and tendon invovment. This time there will be quite a lot done.
I just looked at your signature, there are dulcimers in your collection. Are those your or Judy’s dulcimers? And I must congratulate you that no matter what befalls you, you’re planning to remain a musician.
Hi..haven’t had that question in a while
I’m Judy. Cutterpup is my dog, my screenname and the name I was doing business under when I was dealing in vintage cameras, Cutterpup Collectibles, now I just collect them.
All the instruments are mine.
I am sorry if I am a little slow. I have low IQ in certain areas.
Are you saying that once you are healed your left index finger will permanently out of commisiion AS WELL AS your right index finger which is already out of commission?
After three months my left finger ill be as my right index is now.not flexible from the second knuckle forweard. From that knuckle to the fingertip the finger will be flat and rigid. I am able to play both recorder and whistle fine with it.