By Joshua Rhett Miller, FoxNews: The Muslim teenager from Ohio who converted to Christianity and fled to Florida in fear of retaliation is being treated for an "aggressive" form of uterine cancer, a close friend told FoxNews.com.

Fathima Rifqa Bary, 17, has undergone two operations and has a third scheduled for Thursday, said Jamal Jivanjee, an ordained pastor who heads an Orlando-based ministry.

"The biopsy did come back malignant," Jivanjee told FoxNews.com. "It's a pretty aggressive form of uterine cancer.”

Doctors had initially considered a complete hysterectomy, Jivanjee said, but they are hopeful that the complete removal of Bary's uterus won't be necessary.

"She really wants people to pray for her," he said. "That was why the decision was made to get the news out there.”

Jivanjee, who met Bary roughly 18 months ago when they lived in Columbus, Ohio, said the teenager informed him of her health concerns just a few days ago. Bary is now living with a foster family in Columbus after losing a court battle last year to stay in Florida, he said.

"She really likes this foster family," Jivanjee said. "She's being treated very well.”

Jivanjee characterized Bary's situation as "very serious" in an e-mail to supporters obtained by FoxNews.com.

"As soon as Rifqa heals from the major surgery that she will undergo this Thursday, it is expected that she will need to undergo several rounds of chemotherapy," the e-mail read. "Although she has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, the extent of her condition will be known after this Thursday’s surgery.”

Jivanjee also noted Bary's looming problem regarding her immigration status. In August, when she turns 18, she faces possible deportation to her native Sri Lanka for being in the United States illegally, he said.

"It's looking as if she's not going to have any legal immigration status," he said. "As soon as she's 18, it's heartbreaking to think that she'll be an illegal immigrant with no health coverage. We're praying that somehow she'll be granted asylum.”

John Stemberger, Bary's former attorney, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Bary fled to Florida on a bus last July after her parents, Mohamed and Aysha Bary, learned that she was baptized in early 2009 without their knowledge. Weeks later, using cell phone and computer records, police tracked the girl to the home of Rev. Blake Lorenz, pastor of the Orlando-based Global Revolution Church.

In an emotional six-minute interview with WFTV in Florida, Bary, who met Lorenz through an online Facebook group, said she expected to be killed if she was forced to return to Ohio.

"If I had stayed in Ohio, I wouldn't be alive," Bary said last August. "In 150 generations in family, no one has known Jesus. I am the first -- imagine the honor in killing me.”

Investigators in Florida and Ohio found no evidence to support those claims, however, and a Florida judge ordered Bary back to Ohio in October.