Send text to a MySensors node, or have node request text.

I'm trying to send text from Home Assistant to a MySensors node, or have my node request the needed text. I can send a text(V_TEXT) string from my node to Home Assistant and also request that same text string back without any issues. But, if I use the States page under Developer tools to manually change the V_TEXT state in Home Assistant,

{
"battery_level": 0,
"child_id": 0,
"device": "/dev/ttyUSB0",
"node_id": 77,
"V_TEXT": "test string",
"friendly_name": "Text test"
}

to

{
"battery_level": 0,
"child_id": 0,
"device": "/dev/ttyUSB0",
"node_id": 77,
"V_TEXT": "NEW STRING",
"friendly_name": "Text test"
}

.. my node receives a reply from Home Assistant as "test string" and not the updated "NEW STRING" text. The node is not resending the initial "test string"; it only does so during setup. Home Assistant is showing the updated "NEW STRING" on the frontend, it's only when the node requests the value does Home Assistant send the old value. I've checked the MySensors debug serial output and can confirm that Home Assistant is indeed sending the old value.

How can I use a Home Assistant script or Input text to update the V_TEXT value so that when my node requests the value, it gets the updated string? Or is there a more straightforward way to do this?