TalkPHP - Ugh, Query in a while statement

At first it hurt to put a query in a while statement, then it hurt to rely on my query for organization. Now it hurts because I realized it doesn't work. It works with one category, but when you add a different category it blows up Any category below the first one doesn't get the list items.
I figure it's an error in the HTML, but I still don't like the query in the while statement.
Can I get some help? *!*

PHP Code:


		
			
try{
  // Get the categories
  $query = "
    SELECT DISTINCT `category`
    FROM `aaron_eglast`.`egle_post`
    ORDER BY `category` ASC";
    $sidePanelCategories = $my->query($query);
    if (mysql_num_rows($sidePanelCategories) == 0)
      throw new exception('Sorry, the side panel could not be brought up because it could not be found. (Error Code: 55302)');
  
    
    // Get SP Pages
    $query = "
    SELECT `category`, `slug`, `title`, `order`
    FROM `aaron_eglast`.`egle_post`
    ORDER BY `category` ASC, `order` ASC";
    $sidePanelPages = $my->query($query);
    if (mysql_num_rows($sidePanelPages) == 0)
      throw new exception('Sorry, the side panel could not be brought up because it could not be found. (Error Code: 55303)');
  $b = "";
    while ($a = mysql_fetch_array($sidePanelCategories)){
          $b .= '<li class="topLevel"><h3>'.$a['category'].'</h3><ul>';
                while ($c = mysql_fetch_array($sidePanelPages)){
                  if ($c['category'] == $a['category']){
                        $b .= '<li>';
                        if (MOD_REWRITE == true)
                          $b .= '<a href="'. ROOT . '/' . strtolower($c['category']) . '/' . $c['slug'] . '.html' . '">';
                      else
                          $b .= '<a href="'. ROOT . '/arch/' . strtolower($c['category']) . '/index.php' . '?page=' . $c['slug'] . '">';
                            $b .= $c['title'];
                          $b .= '</a></li>';
                    }
                }
                
            $b .='</ul></li>';
    }
    if ($b == false)
      throw new exception('There was an error generating the index of the local pages.
          I am sorry, but the pages are unable to be displayed at this moment.');
  else
      $sp = $b;
      $smarty->assign('sp',$sp);
}
catch(exception $e){
  $smarty->assign('error',$e->getMessage());
}

<?php

try{
// Get the categories
$query = "
SELECT DISTINCT `category`
FROM `aaron_eglast`.`egle_post`
ORDER BY `category` ASC";
$sidePanelCategories = $my->query($query);
if (mysql_num_rows($sidePanelCategories) == 0)
throw new exception('Sorry, the side panel could not be brought up because it could not be found. (Error Code: 55302)');

// Get SP Pages
$query = "
SELECT `category`, `slug`, `title`, `order`
FROM `aaron_eglast`.`egle_post`
ORDER BY `category` ASC, `order` ASC";
$sidePanelPages = $my->query($query);
if (mysql_num_rows($sidePanelPages) == 0)
throw new exception('Sorry, the side panel could not be brought up because it could not be found. (Error Code: 55303)');
$b = "";

while ($a = mysql_fetch_array($sidePanelCategories)){
$b .= '<li class="topLevel"><h3>'.$a['category'].'</h3><ul>';
while ($c = mysql_fetch_array($sidePanelPages)){
if ($c['category'] == $a['category']){
$b .= '<li>';
if (MOD_REWRITE == true)
$b .= '<a href="'. ROOT . '/' . strtolower($c['category']) . '/' . $c['slug'] . '.html' . '">';
else
$b .= '<a href="'. ROOT . '/arch/' . strtolower($c['category']) . '/index.php' . '?page=' . $c['slug'] . '">';
$b .= $c['title'];
$b .= '</a></li>';
}
}

// reset pointer
mysql_data_seek($sidePanelPages, 0);

$b .='</ul></li>';
}
if ($b == false)
throw new exception('There was an error generating the index of the local pages.
I am sorry, but the pages are unable to be displayed at this moment.');
else
$sp = $b;
$smarty->assign('sp',$sp);
}
catch(exception $e){
$smarty->assign('error',$e->getMessage());
}
?>