# PREPARE ONLY ONCE, NOT EVERYTIME THROUGH THE LOOP
my $word = $dbh->prepare(qq{SELECT term from dream_terms where term=?});

sub link_lookup {
    my $lookup_word = shift;
    $word->execute($lookup_word);
    # YOU ONLY WANT ONE ROW, SO JUST FETCH ONE ROW
    # YOU ARE ONLY FETCHING ONE COLUMN SO JUST FETCH IT, DON"T BIND IT
    my($found_it) = $sth->fetchrow_array;
    # CHECK IF YOU FOUND SOMETHING BEFORE TRYING TO lcfirst NOTHING
    if ($found_it and $lookup_word eq lcfirst($found_it)) {
            print "FOUND A MATCH!<br />";
            $linked_word = qq{
        <a href="#$success_fail"> $lookup_word </a><br />
             };
    }
    else {
            print "YOU ARE HERE<br />";
            $linked_word = $lookup_word;
    }
    $word->finish;
    return $linked_word;
}