Contact notes DISAPPEARED when contact was "updated". Please help

From my MacBook, in the messaging app, I recently clicked the offered banner notification to update the contact. When I did so, the person's contact on my iPhone lost all the note info I had accumulated. I often use the notes field in contacts for ongoing and important info. NOW ITS GONE! Oh, joy - the person's contact picture was updated yet all the more important associated note info is gone. This is not a helpful "update" option whatsoever. Can this data be recovered? How do I prevent this loss in the future / maintain the notes field in my contacts across iPhone and MacBook?