What you want is Paul's thumbies. You can mount bar-end or down-tube shift levers on the tops of your handlebar.
http://www.bentrideronline.com/revie.../thumbies.html
http://www.paulcomp.com/
Rivendell also sells them.
http://www.rivbike.com/products/list...product=17-124
You should also check out the SunRace bar-top shifters. These are just standard friction thumbshifters, and cheap.
http://www.rivbike.com/products/list...product=17-097
You can spread them to fit on a road bar although they are designed to fit on a mountain-bike-type flat bar (smaller diameter).
As a long-term issue, maybe you're a good candidate for flat bars on your road-touring bike. There are lots of people looking to switch flat-bar bikes to drop-bar. Ideally you could find someone and trade parts.