A descriptive study of 40 patients' perceptions of pain from advanced or terminal cancer and their prescribed medications was conducted in a midwestern university hospital over a 14-day period. After an initial interview, pain was assessed daily by using pain intensity and distress scales. Each patient's medication record was updated daily. Analysis of the data revealed that patients continued to have moderate levels of pain and distress in spite of their analgesic regimes. Pain caused moderate to severe interference with living for 76% of them and was most apparent in irritability, decreased mobility, and crying. Over half of the analgesics were ordered for 4-hour intervals or longer, but 78% of the patients indicated that the duration of relief from pain was less than 4 hours. Although this was an exploratory study with a small sample size, the findings appear to provide sufficient justification for further study in this area.