Extract text from cell and define as string in vba

I am hoping to pull text from a cell in my active sheet, define that information as a string and pass it through this If, ElseIf, Else loop. The issue I'm facing is that even though the text I pull contains "dw" the output is always "Not Found".

Its strange because I use message box to see if ss is actually getting defined correctly and it does so I don't think my issue is with pulling the text or defining the string.

(It may not be necessary information but lrow changes because the code below is a part of a larger loop)

       Dim ss As String
       Dim iRow As Long

       iRow = Cells.find(What:="*", SearchOrder:=xlRows, SearchDirection:=xlPrevious, LookIn:=xlValues).Row
       lRow = iRow

       ss = Cells(lRow, 5).Text
       'the message box below shows me that ss is pulling the info from the sheet that I'm looking for
       'msgbox (ss)

       If InStr(ss, "dw") > 0 Then
            Cells(lRow, 18).Formula = "=MID(E12,SEARCH(""dw""," & Chr(34) & ss & Chr(34) & "),6)"

       ElseIf InStr(ss, "lex") > 0 Then
            Cells(lRow, 18).Formula = "=MID(E12,SEARCH(""lex""," & Chr(34) & ss & Chr(34) & "),7)"

       ElseIf InStr(ss, "tex") > 0 Then
            Cells(lRow, 18).Formula = "=MID(E12,SEARCH(""tex""," & Chr(34) & ss & Chr(34) & "),7)"

       ElseIf InStr(ss, "qex") > 0 Then
            Cells(lRow, 18).Formula = "=MID(E12,SEARCH(""qex""," & Chr(34) & ss & Chr(34) & "),7)"

       ElseIf InStr(ss, "qnxr") > 0 Then
            Cells(lRow, 18).Formula = "=MID(E12,SEARCH(""qnxr""," & Chr(34) & ss & Chr(34) & "),8)"

       Else
            Cells(lRow, 18).Value = "Not Found"
       End If