Use variable stored in mysql database

I'd like to store a variable inside a mysql database.  Then assign that variable a value after it's pulled from the database.

Here's a very basic example of how I'm storing the info in the database.

**********************
echo "name" . $var_lname; Thanks for registering for Momentum 2014. **********************

I can pull the text from the database, but $var_fname comes out as plain text and not the value assigned to the variable in the code.

Here's example code.

try {
	$get_email_text = new PDO("database information");
    foreach($get_email_text->query("Query here") as $row) {
		$var_email_text = $row['email_text'];
    }
    $get_email_text = null;
} catch (PDOException $e) {
    print "Error!";
    die();
}

$var_lname="Steve";
echo $var_email_text;

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Instead of replacing the variable $var_lname with "Steve" I get the exact text that's in the database...

**********************
echo "name" . $var_lname; Thanks for registering for Momentum 2014.
**********************

Any ideas on how to tell PHP that $var_lname is a variable?

Thanks,

Steve