Since your problem happens by what (I think) you describe as a blank text area, you should check what value is sent from that control when you submit it as blank.
If it's a NULL and not an empty string, you are probably causing some errors. A NULL value is not an empty string
[see this] [
^].
Perhaps something like:
<?php
if(!isnull($this->note->note_text))
echo htmlentities($this->note->note_text);
else
echo "";
?>