If condition not being met with the correct values being var_dumped

In the code below I checking if $count_friend = $select_friend_stmt->rowCount(); equates to 0 or 1. Then based on the result, I have an if statement to determine other elements. What I do not understand is the first if condition:

    if ( $count_friend == 1 ) {
        //echo $count_friend;
        if ($friend_status == 2) {
            $friend_status_approved;
        }
        if ($friend_status == 1) {
            $friend_status_pending;
        }
        if (isset($friend_status_approved)) {
            $friend_status_button = "Approved";
        }
        else if (isset($friend_status_pending)) {
            $friend_status_button = "Pending";
        }
       echo var_dump($friend_status) . "*1 - status";
    }

Is not running the child if statements. I think I have narrowed down the issue, but I am unsure of how to fix it. I do not think, if ( $count_friend == 1 ) { is the issue because under echo var_dump($count_friend) . "Count Friend"; I get the correct integer.

Now, when I go to a user who's $friend_status = 1; I get the following output from my var_dump()'s

int(1) Count 
Friendstring(1) "1"
*1 - statusstring(1) "1"
*0 - status

Is string(1) "1" causing issues for me?

I have tried doing: if ($friend_status == "1") { .. and .. if ($friend_status == '1') { , but it did not help.

My status column is configured in my database like the following:

status enum('0','1','2') COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci DEFAULT '0'

Any ideas why my code is not producing results for my if ($friend_status 's?

$friend_sql = "
        SELECT *
        FROM friends
        WHERE friend_one = ?
        AND friend_two= ?
    ";
    $select_friend_stmt = $con->prepare($friend_sql);
    $select_friend_stmt->execute(array($user_id, $profile_user));
    $friend_rows = $select_friend_stmt->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
    $count_friend = $select_friend_stmt->rowCount();
    $friend_status_button = null;
    foreach ($friend_rows as $friend_row) {
        $select_friend_1 = $friend_row['friend_one'];
        $select_friend_2 = $friend_row['friend_two'];
        $friend_status = $friend_row['status'];
        $friend_status_date = $friend_row['date'];
    }
    echo var_dump($count_friend) . "Count Friend";

    //else if ( $count_friend == 1 || $count_friend == 2 ) 
    if ( $count_friend == 1 ) {
        //echo $count_friend;
        if ($friend_status == 2) {
            $friend_status_approved;
        }
        if ($friend_status == 1) {
            $friend_status_pending;
        }
        if (isset($friend_status_approved)) {
            $friend_status_button = "Approved";
        }
        else if (isset($friend_status_pending)) {
            $friend_status_button = "Pending";
        }
        echo var_dump($friend_status) . "*1 - status";
    }
    else if ( $count_friend == 0 ) {
        $friend_status = 0;
        $select_friend_2 = 0;
        if ($friend_status == $select_friend_2) {
            $friend_status_my_profile;
        }
        if (isset($friend_status_my_profile)) {
            $friend_status_button = "";
        }
    }
    else {
        echo "Friend Status not found.";
    }
    echo var_dump($friend_status) . "*0 - status";