Ink reaction, perhaps?

Hi there-- I've been looking around for information on some healing issues I've been having with a now-three-week old ankle tattoo. It's a fairly elaborate design; colors are black outline, red/purple berries, green leaves, blossoms with white petals and yellow centers (in other words, a blackberry vine). The tattoo took three hours to complete and the artist was meticulous in his work. When I got home, I noted that the outer side of my ankle (also the boniest area) was quite sore--but there was more detail--and ink in that area. Over a period of few days, that sucker got very, very angry, becoming dark pink and quite swollen (and I understand that ankles, due to their circulatory challenges, swelling is not uncommon). It was pretty hot as well. I followed all of the aftercare instructions, which involved cleaning once to twice daily with bland soap, using A&D ointment for the first few days (light coating only), later switching to Curel. So the typical flaking occurred over time, and the swelling, pain and redness went down. Well, all except for a few very small spots--both of them petals on the blossoms--white ink. The blossom on the outside of my ankle had an inflamed border around it (actually, the one petal, really), and the area continued to be painful to the touch. It was not healing like the rest of the tattoo. A few days ago, I was examining that area, and there was what appeared to be a white scab on that one damned petal. I touched it, and was kind of horrified to note that a small amount white gooey liquid oozed out. Great, I thought, the thing's infected, and has been. Don't get your blood pressure up too high when I tell you what happened next, until you read the whole thing, okay? Also I should add that I am a licensed E.R. Veterinary Technician, and yes, I know it's not human medicine--but wound healing is wound healing and the process is the same for us as it is for cats and dogs. I pulled the scab off--yes, the cardinal sin of tattoos--and good grief, there was a nice, gooey divet where the scab had once been. It was not pus at all, but white ink and what I presume to be tissue fluids. The margin around where the scab had been was raised in the same way I've observed with wounds that were not healing (for any number of reasons). I gently cleaned up my lovely pit and called a doctor I work with to get his opinion. We both agreed that it was a tissue reaction, and it seems that the red/sore/raised area was an attempt to wall off the offending stuff under the scab. His recommendation was to think about applying a topical steroid (hydrocorisone is fine) to the raised area to stop the excess collagen formation and allow the pit to fill in. This is what I did. Within five or six hours, the inflammation was probably 85% improved. That was three days ago. Today, the divet is almost even with the rest of the skin, and amazingly, there's still plenty of white pigment left. The other area where I described a similar sort of inflammation seemed to resolve (slowly) on its own. The rest of the tattoo looks fabulous. My guess is that 1) something in white ink is not too compatible with my system and 2) that area must have gotten more of the white ink than the other petals. What are your thoughts out there? Ever heard of anything like this? As I mentioned earlier, I followed the artist's instructions to the "T", but eventually, my knowledge of wound healing prevailed and I realized that I wasn't having your typical healing annoyances. So please! Don't blow your gaskets out there! I wish I'd taken pictures of the pissed off part of my tattoo, but for whatever reason, I didn't. All the pics I have look very nice, which I know isn't much help. This was my first tattoo, at the tender age of fortysomething. My son got his tattoo well before mine.