why the $&*$ is this happening?

Code:
function emailLesson($lessonNo=0,$start=0,$last=0, $personalMessage=0){

 

        $query = $this->db->query("SELECT email FROM email ");

        $total = $query->num_rows();

              

              echo "Total emails to send: <h3>$total</h3>";

          

              echo "Sending emails from <b>$start</b> to <b>$last</b>";

              

              

              echo "Refreshing every 30 seconds";

                     

              $query = $this->db->query("SELECT * FROM lesson WHERE lessonNo=$lessonNo");

              $lesson = $query->row();



              $difficulty = $this->lesson->getTypeName($lesson->type);

              $date = date("F jS, Y", strtotime($lesson->dateTime));

              

            $body = "-------------------------------------------------------------------<br>";

            $body .= "<a href='http://www.site/lesson/$lessonNo/". str_replace(' ', '_', $lesson->name) . "'><b>$difficulty - #$lesson->lessonNo $lesson->name ($date) </b></a><br>";

            $body .= "-------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>";

            $body .= "$lesson->description<br><br>";

            $body .= "-------------------------------------------------------------------<br>";

//            $body .= "You have received this message because you requested email notification on site. If you would like to unsubscribe from these messages in the future please <a href='http://site/unsubscribe.php?ID=$ID&email;=$to'>click here</a><br>";

            if(strlen($personalMessage) > 1){

                $body .= "\n\n$personalMessage\n";

            }

            $body .= "\n\nsite Team\n";              

              

              $query = $this->db->query("SELECT email FROM email UNION SELECT email FROM users WHERE notifications='Y' LIMIT $start, $last");

              $this->email->from('[email protected]','ArabicPod.net');

              $this->email->subject("New Lesson: $difficulty - #$lesson->lessonNo $lesson->name");

              $this->email->message($body);

              foreach($query->result() as $row){

                $this->email->to($row->email);

                $this->email->send();                    

            }    

            

            if($total == $last){

                echo "<h1>Success</h1>";

                echo "Sent email to <b>$total</b>";

                $this->email->print_debugger();

            } elseif($total < $last+50){



header("refresh:30;url=" . base_url() . "admin/email/emailLesson/" . $lesson->lessonNo . "/$last/$total/$personalMessage");

            } else {

                $next = $last+50;

                header("refresh:30;url=" . base_url() . "admin/email/emailLesson/" . $lesson->lessonNo . "/$last/$next/$personalMessage"); 



            }

      }