I appreciate the link. It in fact really did not address the issue I described. The specific item was in fact not offline. I was able to update the item on 1 device and then see those changes on my iphone despite the iphone repeatedly saying the item was offline. This was clearly a bug. The item was online and updating on all devices.
I would add something to that document that addresses people with a similar situation. The solution was to sign out and sign back in on my iphone. Also, offer directions on how to Sign Out of an account (or a link to the support page), because that is not an obvious task as it is buried in numerous sub menus.
I now have it fixed it seems.