how to use Word find and Replace to search inside a string variable (in a macro)

[Ronald Pero]

I am trying to figure out how to use the power of Word's Find and Replace to search inside of string variables and then replace the found sequence with something else or in some cases to remove the found item from the variable. I assumed that the following example code would work, in this case I thought it would find 5 numerical digits inside the string variable sSample and remove them but it doesn't seem to work

Sub Macro2()
'
' Macro2 Macro
'
'
sSample = "aaaaaa43215aaaaaaaa"
sSampleReplaceString = "[0-9]{5}"


Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With sSample.Find
.Text = sSampleReplaceString
.Replacement.Text = ""
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute


End Sub

Can anyone tell me if what I am trying to do is possible. I would prefer to not have to first have to add the variable to the document and then find it separately and replace it from there. Thank you for your help.